Legislative. Paris, Lyon, Strasbourg… the big cities resist the push of the RN

In Paris and in most major French cities, the National Rally (RN) failed to impose itself as much as in the rest of the country. In many constituencies in metropolitan areas, candidates from the New Popular Front (NFP) came out on top and a number were even elected in the first round of the legislative elections.

In Paris, raid by the New Popular Front

Of the 18 Parisian constituencies, half (nine, therefore) saw the candidates of the New Popular Front elected in the first round. Unsurprisingly, these are those located in the east of Paris, a bastion of the left where La France insoumise (LFI) had carved out the lion’s share in 2022, with six out of nine deputies from the left. All (Aymeric Caron, Danièle Obono, Sarah Legrain, Sophia Chikirou and Rodrigo Arenas) were re-elected, with the exception of the dissident Danielle Simonnet, in a favorable runoff.

The Ecologists also reappointed three deputies in the first round: Eva Sas and Sandrine Rousseau, outgoing, and Pouria Amirshahi. The Socialist Party, humiliated in 2017 during the Macronist wave, regained a seat thanks to the first deputy Emmanuel Grégoire, elected against the Macronist Clément Beaune. The Parisian suburbs, from Seine-Saint-Denis through Essonne and Val-de-Marne, also saw many left-wing elections in the first round.

Macronie in difficulty in the capital

In Paris, the Macronists are showing a great decline: of the eight outgoing deputies of the presidential camp, some are in great danger. Like the MoDem Maud Gatel, who is nine points behind the socialist Céline Hervieu. Or the Minister of Transformation and Public Service Stanislas Guerini, also in an unfavorable ballot with 12 points behind his ecologist opponent.

Without any MP since 2022, the right was counting on the 4th and 14th constituencies to regain at least one seat. But the presence of pro-RN candidates, favorable to “the union of the rights”, complicated the situation.

Toulouse, Nantes, Strasbourg, Lyon… the left in the lead

In the metropolitan areas of France, the results are similar to the Parisian scores. In Nantes, all the constituencies saw the left come out on top and, in the 2nd, LFI-NFP MP Andy Kerbrat was even re-elected in the first round. Several three-way races are expected between the left, Macronie and the RN. The same in Grenoble, where the left should emerge victorious from several NFP-RN-Ensemble three-way races. In the 2nd constituency of Isère, former Minister of Health Olivier Véran is seven points behind the LFI-NFP candidate, who came out on top with more than 40% of the vote.

The pattern is similar in Lyon, Rennes, Strasbourg or Toulouse, where the left coming in first has a good chance of winning in most constituencies in the event of an NFP-RN-Ensemble triangular. In the 3rd of Rhône, the ecologist Marie-Charlotte Garin was even re-elected in the first round, just like the rebellious François Piquemal in the 4th of Haute-Garonne and the socialist Mickaël Bouloux in the 8th of Ille-et-Vilaine .

The far right rises in Marseille

The situation is different in Marseille, however. True, two NFP deputies – the rebels Manuel Bompard and Sébastien Delogu – were elected in the first round. But in all the other constituencies in the Phocaean city, the far right came out on top on Sunday, with the left most often second. It remains to be seen whether the candidates who came third will withdraw to block the RN, like Minister Sabrina Agresti-Roubache, who announced that she would not participate in the three-way race in the 1st constituency of Bouches-du-Rhône to give the NFP candidate a chance to win.