In office since 2020, the elected official announced Friday December 13 in a press release her temporary withdrawal. She says she is exhausted by her mandate.
Temporary withdrawal for personal health. Friday, December 13, while the evening was well underway, journalists in Périgueux (Périgord) received a surprising press release at 10:07 p.m., signed by the city's mayor, Delphine Labail. The 49-year-old socialist, in office since 2020, explained that she wanted to step back from her duties (she is also a regional councilor and first vice-president of the Grand Périgueux agglomeration) to “a few weeks”. Reason given: professional fatigue, “exhaustion” to the task.
“Every day, every hour, every second since 2020 has been used to change the lives of residents and to make Périgueux a more united, more attractive and more ecological city. I exhausted myself in this task, she says in the text as reported South West. I feel the effects of significant professional burnout, which endangers both my health and my family balance.” This inspector at the Ministry of Youth and Sports had withdrawn from her profession to devote herself full time to her mandate.
“A considerable expectation of those administered”
Delphine Labail also puts her fatigue on the difficulty of being mayor today, even more so as a woman and in a medium-sized city. “with extremely broad skills, limited resources and considerable expectations from those administered”. The national context which leads to “increasing regulatory constraints and financial constraints” doesn't help either, according to her. During her break, it is, as required by the electoral code, her first deputy who will replace her. A first municipal council must take place on Wednesday December 18, without Delphine Labail.
Former mayor (LR) of Périgueux and main opponent of the current councilor, Antoine Audi did not fail to attack France Bleu “errors” of his successor who may have caused what amounts to burn-out: “We always feel that she is in a permanent fight, and I think that she has probably exhausted herself by making her mandate as mayor of all Périgourdins a political fight. I think that’s one of his mistakes.”
83% of mayors believe that their mandate “is harmful to health”
At the Congress of the Association of Mayors of France (AMF) last month, the Minister of Partnership with the Territories Catherine Vautrin indicated that 2,400 mayors – out of a total of around 35,000 in France – had resigned since the start of their mandate in June 2020, i.e. “40 more per year during this mandate”.
And 83% of mayors believe that their mandate “is harmful to health”, according to a study carried out in 2024 by Sciences Po and the CNRS for the AMF. In 2022, an Ifop survey also indicated that more than one in two mayors (55%) did not wish to run again at the end of their mandate in 2026, a record in twenty years.
Updated at 1:50 p.m.: with more context.
