Winners and losers in France’s municipal elections
politico.eu • • world
Key Points:
- The far-right National Rally made significant gains in mid-sized and smaller French towns, while the conservative Les Républicains retained most of their cities and gained a few new ones; Macron’s Renaissance party won its first major local victories in Bordeaux and Annecy.
- Emmanuel Grégoire was elected mayor of Paris, extending the Socialist Party’s 25-year control of the capital, boosting his political profile nationally.
- Edouard Philippe secured reelection as mayor of Le Havre, strengthening his position as a leading presidential candidate likely to face the National Rally in the 2027 election runoff.
- Eric Ciotti won the mayoralty of Nice, marking a win for the far-right in France’s fifth-largest city, though his views differ from National Rally leader Marine Le Pen’s.
- The National Rally also faced setbacks, failing to win key cities like Nîmes, Toulon, and Marseille in runoffs, while Emmanuel Macron experienced losses in Lyon despite backing candidates there; left-wing alliances and the Greens lost ground in several cities, and centrist François Bayrou was defeated in Pau, signaling a possible end to his political career.
