It’s raining heavily in Bruay-la-Buissière. Nothing to do with the RN’s score in the European elections. But here, the 63.4% of votes cast in favor of Jordan Bardella caused comments from all sides to rain down. On the evening of the election, the city quite simply became the city of more than 10,000 inhabitants where the most RN voters vote in France. The foreigners ? Delinquency ? It is obvious that the themes dear to Marine Le Pen’s party were at play. Demonization embodied to perfection by Mayor Ludovic Pajot too. But the theme that probably had the most impact was purchasing power.
In any case, this is the feeling we get when meeting the Bruaysiens at the Porte Nord, a commercial area of which peripheral France has the secret. Marie, the first person we meet, has pushed her shopping cart into a German supermarket known for its low prices: “ I am lucky to have a comfortable situation. But I notice that refueling is more expensive, like electricity. I understand that low earners are distraught, that they are fed up. So they try what hasn’t been tried yet. » Did Marie offer her voice to the Bardella list? Laughs. “ No, I can’t, my husband is Moroccan. »
“Where are we going with this? »
Marie (assumed first name at her request) is a civil servant. She is getting ready to fill her cart in a French hypermarket. Concerns about purchasing power? His daily life. “ It’s more and more expensive. We pay attention to everything, we can no longer have fun. We buy less clothes, we go to the essentials. If we didn’t eat, maybe we would be rich. Change is needed. It might not be better but not worse. I will vote RN. » Jennifer and François did not vote in the European elections but the anger is equal to their silence at the polls: “ We do 200 shopping bags and there is nothing in the cart. We buy €20 of diesel and we have 11 liters, where are we going with that? »
“It gives me spots”
Françoise told us of her distress: “ I’m looking for a job, I have to calculate everything. Making choices all the time. Knowing what I’m depriving myself of, what’s really useful? Clothes, perfume, shoes, restaurants, it’s impossible. I didn’t walk through the door of Restos du coeur because I have my pride. I had to live with my family because I had no housing. I hope that by changing government, there will be positive things. So yes, I want to try the RN. » Bernard, a retiree, does not share this opinion: “ At the end of the month, it’s a bit tight. Going out is complicated. But when we talk about the RN vote, it gives me pimples. My dad was a little resistant, he must be turning in his grave right now. »
