While at the end of the first round of the legislative elections, the RN is in the lead in the four constituencies of Dordogne, one city resisted the navy blue wave. The candidate, Nadine Lechon, only came in third place. This is Périgueux, which thus stands out from most of the medium-sized cities in France.
As a reminder, this was not the case at the European elections on June 9. Jordan Bardella’s list had taken first place, winning in 11 offices out of 20. Sunday June 30, the RN did not dominate in any. Concluding on a reflux is, however, an illusion. Of course, Nadine Lechon is still unknown, but she was not unworthy, since she collected a thousand additional votes compared to her boss: 3,276 against 2,273 on June 9 in the European elections. Better, she tripled the score of the 2022 candidate, Williams Ambroise.
Mobilization that benefits everyone
But the high turnout in this first round of the legislative elections (68.20%) did not only benefit her. The Horizon candidate, Clément Tonon, representing the outgoing majority, although he came second in the city centre, won a thousand more votes than his predecessor from 2022, Philippe Chassaing. He may have benefited from a transfer of votes from LR, Élisabeth Marty having collected 1,066 votes two years ago compared to 656 on Sunday 30 June for the young unknown candidate, Béranger Desport-Namur. But that is not enough to explain the surge.
Would Clément Tonon have then benefited from another transfer of votes from a moderate, social democratic left? Without a doubt. Nevertheless, the outgoing deputy, the LFI Pascale Martin, also improved the score of the left, by more than 500 votes, compared to the first round of 2022 (by adding the votes of the dissident socialist Floran Vadillo and the radical left Patrice Reboul). The differential is almost the same in the European elections, if we add the votes of the main components of the New Popular Front. The dynamics of the union has indeed paid off and awakened abstainers.
The LR thorn
The second round will therefore be interesting to analyze. Not only in view of the challenges of these legislative elections, but in the perspective of the next municipal elections in 2026. It is clear that Clément Tonon is also thinking about it, encouraged by Périgourdins orphans of the LR party, scattered in small pieces, like a puzzle. And this, especially since the only candidate declared so far, namely Laurent Mossion, has chosen to remain faithful to the clan, even reduced to its simplest expression. The departmental councilor of Périgueux-Ouest, who dreamed of bringing people together, finds himself assuming a score of 5.5% in the city he covets. Worse, this would perhaps have allowed Tonon to finish second in the entire constituency. From there to harboring some resentment…
As things stand, can the left, with its 35%, boast of maintaining leadership in the city? It is difficult to answer, two years before the deadline. Especially since arithmetically, the right, including RN voters, has never been so dominant.
