The agreement was sealed yesterday evening. The left-wing parties agreed on a common program for their possible first hundred days of government as well as on the constituencies. A single candidate will be labeled “Popular Front” in all constituencies in France. It is this last point, often sensitive, which put a brake on the negotiations yesterday afternoon, before they resumed and were concluded around 9 p.m.
A rebalancing after the results of the European elections
The distribution has been largely revised compared to the 2022 agreement. France Insoumise negotiated 229 constituencies, when it had more than 300 in 2022. 175 constituencies are allocated to the Socialist Party and its ally Place Publique, when the first had 70 in 2022. The Communist Party remains stable with 50 constituencies and the ecologists saw their number of nominations drop from 100 in 2022 to 92 in 2024. The European election last Sunday reshuffled the cards: the Socialist Party was ahead its other partners, modifying the balance.
After the breakdown of the number of constituencies according to political parties, the time has come to determine the colors of the constituencies territory by territory. And it is at this level that things could have been more tense, without fracturing the alliance. “The debates were very open and constructive,” summarizes the socialists. However, several cases posed problems. But the control over the nomination of candidates remains with the parties internally, while the clock is ticking: the deadline for submitting candidacies is this Sunday, June 16.
In Paris, the socialists inherit four constituencies
One of the points of difficulty was the distribution of seats in Paris. The Parisian federation of the Socialist Party, led by Lamia El Aaraje, close to Anne Hidalgo and traditionally opposed to Nupes, took a position on June 11. They promised to present candidates in “all Parisian constituencies”. Ultimately, the Socialists inherited four Parisian constituencies. Among them, the seventh, the constituency of Clément Beaune, was coveted by Emmanuel Grégoire, current first deputy mayor of Paris, and the president of the federation, Lamia El Aaraje. This morning, a national council of the PS decided to invest Emmanuel Grégoire.
In Paris, another case was tense: Julien Bayou. The outgoing Green MP, former co-president of the group in the Assembly, was excluded from the party and the group because he is the subject of a complaint for harassment by a former partner. He had declared himself a candidate for his succession, without the support of the Ecologists. This morning, he finally withdrew his candidacy in favor of the Popular Front candidate. This constituency, the fifth in Paris, was allocated to a candidate from civil society, despite internal candidacies, such as that of Raphaëlle Rémy-Leleu, a Parisian elected official.
In the capital, France Insoumise won eight constituencies, including that of Sophia Chikirou, Danièle Obono and Aymeric Caron, personalities who do not achieve consensus on the left.
“We will not interfere in the parties’ choices”
In the North, the case of outgoing LFI deputy Adrien Quatennens, convicted of domestic violence, constituted a sensitive point in the negotiations. Among the left-wing partners, this investiture raises eyebrows. The socialists have expressed “reservations” about this candidate: they will not give him their logo, those around the negotiators whisper, but without however presenting anyone against him. This constituency has however been allocated to France Insoumise, which will reveal its candidates in the afternoon. “We will not interfere in the parties’ choices,” says the party of the rose.
The Environmentalists reappoint the leavers
The Environmentalists, allied with Generation. s within the Ecologist Pole, have invested their leavers, including the Lyonnaise Marie-Charlotte Garin or the Val-de-marnaise Sophie Taillé-Polian. Former minister Dominique Voynet will be a candidate in Doubs, and the former European deputy founder of the Nouvelle Donne party, not re-elected on Sunday, will be a candidate in the fifth constituency of Essonne against the outgoing Renaissance Paul Midy. Yesterday, MP Hubert Julien-Laferrière, who had been excluded from the Ecologists group after being involved in a matter of foreign interference, announced his retirement from political life. Finally, the outgoing deputy for Val-d’Oise Aurélien Taché, elected in 2017 under the En Marche label, then moved to EELV to finally join the Insoumis group, is expected to be reinvested. It was France Insoumise which recovered its constituency.
