Reuters. Socialist party candidate Emmanuel Gregoire rode his bicycle to the City Hall where he was given the keys to the city by outgoing mayor Anne Hidalgo after winning the Paris mayoral race on Sunday (March 22).
Gregoire easily beat conservative former minister Rachida Dati in the second round of voting, exit polls showed on Sunday.
Gregoire's victory deepens leftist control of the French capital, where the Socialists have been in power for 25 years, overseeing an ecological urban renewal project that resonated with many voters.
Gregoire takes over from her former boss, Anne Hidalgo, who has been credited for opening up kilometres of cycling lanes in the capital, and closing many streets including roads by the Seine River to car traffic.
Marseille's left-wing incumbent mayor Benoit Payan said on Sunday (March 22) the city showed its "best side" by not letting the National Rally win control of France's second biggest city, which could have cemented the far right's grasp of a major territory ahead of next year's presidential ballot.
The RN fell short of taking control of the southern cities of Marseille and Toulon, exit polls showed on Sunday, in municipal elections that gave hope to embattled mainstream parties.
Socialist Payan was re-elected with 56.3% of the votes, overtaking the RN's Franck Allisio, according to an Elabe poll for BFM TV. Other polls also showed him winning.
The leader of France's National Rally (RN) Jordan Bardella hailed on Sunday (March 22) a "victory" for the far-right party after the announcement of preliminary results of the nationwide mayoral runoff elections.
Although the RN fell short of taking control of the southern cities of Marseille and Toulon, according to exit polls, in the elections that gave hope to embattled mainstream parties, Bardella cited several cities in which the far right was able to win, notably in the southern French city of Nice.
“With less than one year before a presidential and parliamentary elections that are crucial for France’s destiny, with Marine Le Pen, we are aware of the responsibility that is now ours. The successes of tonight is not an end, but a beginning," Bardella said in a statement.
The thousands of separate municipal ballots are often focused on very local issues and their outcome does not forecast who will win in the April 2027 presidential election to succeed centrist President Emmanuel Macron.
But they show trends in popularity and in the type of alliances that can be struck in an increasingly fragmented political landscape, and senior politicians from all parties were quick to claim Sunday's results were good news for them.
France Unbowed figure Manuel Bompard said in a speech he welcomed good news for the LFI, with candidates placing well in several cities, a new feat for a party that had so far not focused much on local elections.
Socialist Party leader Olivier Faure said he believed there is still a way to unite left-wing parties with the 2027 presidential election in sight.
