The day after the municipal elections, French socialism lost one of its leading figures. Lionel Jospin, former Socialist prime minister, died on Monday at the age of 88, his family announced. Jospin was Prime Minister of France from 1997 to 2002 in a coalition government with the conservative Jacques Chirac as President of the Republic, and he was the driving force behind the 35-hour workweek and the recognition of civil partnerships, including same-sex partnerships. A key figure for French socialists in the Fifth Republic, Jospin was among the first to advocate for the unity of left-wing parties to confront the right electorally, an issue that 24 years later remains one of the most current—and controversial—debates within the progressive spectrum. He himself was a victim of vote splitting when, in 2002, he ran for president but was eliminated in the first round by Chirac and Jean-Marie Le Pen. "We couldn't win the elections with five candidates" from the left, he stated in an interview years later.