The French left has managed in this Sunday's municipal elections to consolidate its weight in the country's main cities, including Paris, against the push of the far-right National Rally, the party of Marine Le Pen, in elections that, in any case, will be resolved in the second round scheduled for next March 22.
In the capital, the alliance formed by the Socialist Party, the French Communist Party and the Ecologists, led by Emmanuel Grégoire, has placed first with 37.9% of the votes in this first round, according to data released by the French Ministry of the Interior.
Grégoire's list has thus prevailed over that of Rachida Dati, of The Republicans-Democratic Movement, which adds up to 25.4% support and becomes the main candidate of the right for the second round.
March 22, again to the polls
In that new appointment with the polls will also be present the candidate of France Unbowed, Sophia Chikirou, who has obtained 11.7%, as well as Pierre-Yves Bournazel, of the center-right party Horizons (11.6%), and Sarah Knafo, representative of the far-right formation Reconquest (10.4%), having all of them surpassed the 10% threshold. The future of the Parisian mayoralty will now depend on the agreements that can be woven between these five candidacies for the second round.
"The people of Paris have firmly placed us at the head in this first round," Grégoire stressed, before calling on "all voters from the republican camp, from the progressive camp" with a view to the second round, with the aim of prolonging the 25 years of socialist municipal governments, marked especially by the last twelve years of Anna Hidalgo's mandate.
Tight results in Marseille and Lyon
In Marseille, the most voted candidate has been Benoît Payan (36.7%), leading a left-wing coalition without the participation of La France Insoumise, although this time the advantage over the National Rally candidate, Franck Allisio (35.02%), is very narrow. Martine Vassal, from the Diverse Right coalition, with 12.41%, and Sébastien Delogu, from La France Insoumise, who has gathered 11.94%, will also go to the second round.
In Lyon, the current mayor, the ecologist Grégory Doucet, has garnered 37.3% of the votes, followed very closely by Jean-Michel Aulas, an independent backed by the center-right, who has achieved 36.7%. Behind them is the candidate of La France Insoumise, Anaïs Belouassa-Cherifi, with 10.4%, who will also contest the second round.
In Bordeaux, Pierre Hurmic, an ecologist from the left-wing union, has been the most supported with 27.6%. Two right-wing candidates will also advance to the second round: Thomas Cazenave, from Reconquista, with 25.5%, and Phillipe Dessertine, an independent supported by a center-right coalition, who has obtained 20.2%.
In Toulouse, the first round has resulted in the clear victory of Jean-Luc Moudenc, of the Diverse Right, who totals 37.23%. However, La France Insoumise, represented by François Piquemal, with 27.5%, and the candidate of the left-wing coalition, François Briançon, with 24.9%, will also be in the second round, and the outcome for the mayoralty will depend on a possible agreement between the left-wing forces.
In Nice, the coalition between Union of Democrats for the Republic and National Rally, led by Éric Ciotti, has been the most voted (43.4%), ahead of the current right-wing mayor, Christian Estrosi (Horizons, 30.9%). The left-wing list of Juliette Chesnel-Le Roux has achieved 11.9% and remains in contention for the second round.
The former prime minister Édouard Phillipe has managed for his candidacy to be the most voted in Le Havre, with 43.7%, ahead of the left-wing coalition and the far-right union, in what is interpreted as a key test for his eventual presidential ambitions for 2027.
The mayors of Meaux, with Jean-François Copé (center-right); of Lens, with Sylvain Robert (left); and of Cannes, with David Lisnard (center-right) have been directly elected in the first round.
The far right imposes itself in Perpignan and Calais
In other localities, such as Perpignan, the mayor of National Rally, Louis Aliot, has achieved 50.61% of the votes, thus securing direct re-election after clearly defeating the left-wing coalition.
In Calais, mayor Natacha Bouchart (independent right) will also retain the position after reaching 60% of the votes, while in Saint-Amand-les-Eaux the national secretary of the French Communist Party, Fabien Roussel, will continue as mayor.