Craven political manoeuvring has broken out across France as elected positions for around 35,000 municipalities are up for grabs, with the first round of voting breaking the veneer of the establishment left’s feigned principles, which instantly broke down and and its candidates began partnering with Jean-Luc Mélenchon’s radicals.
Following the breakdown of the New Popular Front grand coalition of various left-wing parties formed in 2024, the legacy-leftist Socialist Party openly declared that it would no longer partner on a national level with Mélenchon’s La France Insoumise (France in Rebellion) party, as the LFI increasingly took radical positions on Israel and partnered with Islamist factions in France.
The Mélenchonist brand suffered further following the mob killing of a conservative student in Lyon earlier this year, in which multiple members of the banned Antifa group the Jeune Garde (Young Guard) have been implicated, including two former staffers of LFI lawmaker Raphaël Arnault, the founder of the Antifa cell.
However, facing the prospect of losing power in key leftist heartlands to the ascendant Rassemblement National (National Rally/RN) of Marine Le Pen and Jordan Bardella or even to the establishment centre-right Les Républicains, the so-called cordon sanitaire surrounding the LFI has quickly collapsed in the wake of Sunday’s first round of voting in the municipal elections.
Socialist candidates have already formed electoral alliances with the LFI for the second round of voting on Sunday in Toulouse, Limoges, Brest, Clermont-Ferrand, and Avignon. Meanwhile, LFI candidates formed alliances with the leftist Green party in Lyon and Strasbourg as well, Le Figaro reported. It is likely that more alliance agreements will be forged as the week goes on.
Socialist leader Olivier Faure said on Monday evening that he “perfectly understands the choices” of his party’s local candidates forming partnerships with the LFI for the second round of voting. This comes despite him admitting that he will not pair with Mélenchon or his ranks over their “unacceptable” and “antisemitic” remarks.
This comes in contrast to MEP Raphaël Glucksmann, who sits with the Socialists and Democrats (S&D) in the European Parliament but who leads the left-wing Place Publique (Public Square) party in France. Glucksmann, widely tipped to be a leading leftist presidential candidate next year, said that he will withdraw his candidates rather than form an alliance with the LFI.
“We refuse any merger with La France Insoumise,” he said. “What’s the point of crying scandal over every outrageous statement by Jean-Luc Mélenchon if we’re just going to make deals with him at every election?”
For his part, Mélenchon predicted ahead of the first round of voting that his former Socialist Party would ultimately make deals with his ranks, saying: “(The Socialists) say: ‘In the second round, there will be no agreement (with La France Insoumise).’ Yeah, right! You know how they are! They’re big-time schemers. They won’t cost us too much to buy… wherever we buy them.”
National Rally leader Marine Le Pen, whose party has often fallen victim to the tactical voting ploys incentivised by the anti-populist two-round elections, expressed similar sentiments to her Socialist Party foes.
“In Brest, Nantes, Limoges, Clermont-Ferrand, Toulouse, Lyon, Strasbourg, Besançon, Grenoble, and probably in many other less ‘flashy’ cities, the left is allying with LFI,” she wrote.
“Neither the antisemitic outbursts, nor the calls for political violence and their justifications, will have derailed the essential mission of the most hypocritical left on earth: saving their mandates! It took just a handful of hours…”
There have been some holdouts, however, with Socialist candidates refusing to partner with the LFI in some significant contests, including in Marseille, Paris, and Rennes. Yet it remains to be seen if such stances will hold, with radical LFI supporters putting heavy pressure on Socialists to bend the metaphorical knee. The pressure has been most extreme in Marseille, where La France Insoumise supporters stormed the campaign office of incumbent Socialist Mayor Benoît Payan after he rejected an alliance with the LFI.
The LFI partisans were heard shouting “united left against fascists” and “Payan, who pays you?” as they stormed inside the building.
The decision by Payan to refuse an alliance with the hard left could prove costly, as he currently stands neck and neck with National Rally candidate Franck Allisio, who is seeking a major upset in France’s second city by riding a wave of growing anger over the multicultural criminal gangs that terrorise Marseille.
So far, the National Rally has had a strong showing as it seeks to build up its base of support with an eye on next year’s presidential election, in which both Le Pen and Jordan Bardella have commanding leads in the polls. RN vice president Sébastien Chenu told RTL radio on Monday that the party has already outright won 24 mayoral races and that there are at least 60 cities where the National Rally is leading the race. How many races the party wins on Sunday may depend heavily on whether the left can coalesce or if splitting rules the day.
Bardella stressed the importance of the opportunity, saying: “The success of the National Rally in the first round of the municipal elections is historic. On Sunday, all patriots have an immense responsibility: that of mobilizing and going to vote. To amplify the victory, for their convictions, for their municipality, for France.”
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