This Monday begins the shortest electoral campaign of the Fifth Republic, for the early legislative elections of June 30 and July 7. Candidates had until Sunday, 6 p.m., to report to the prefecture. Gathered under the banner “New Popular Front”, the main left-wing parties have divided up most of the 577 French constituencies after intense negotiations, which give the lion’s share to rebellious France, with 229 seats to conquer, a a hundred fewer, however, than in 2022. The Socialist Party, emerging reinvigorated from the European elections, gleans 100 additional constituencies in the electoral agreement, for a total of 170 seats. Followed by the ecologists (92 constituencies) and the French Communist Party (50 constituencies) Overview of the main candidates:
Rebellious France
More than the new candidates, it is the non-reinvested leavers from La France insoumise who have caused a lot of ink to flow in recent days. In Seine-Saint-Denis, an LFI stronghold, the pruning borders on slaughter with two former traveling companions of Jean-Luc Mélenchon: neither Rachel Garrido in the 5th district, nor Alexis Corbière in the 7th, did not receive the party’s nomination. A list to which we can also add Danielle Simonnet in the 15th district of Paris.
On their social networks, these elected officials denounced a “purge”, believing they were paying for the differences displayed in recent months with the political strategy of Jean-Luc Mélenchon, in particular the line defended on Palestine. Still candidates, they are nevertheless almost guaranteed to be re-elected due to their strong local presence. However, their situation has moved the other partners in the agreement, while one of the guidelines of the negotiations was that those leaving, with a few exceptions, be automatically reinvested. “It’s a decision that creates division,” regrets an outgoing MP, member of the environmentalist pole. “We need seasoned profiles in the National Assembly. These are people who are really talented, some of whom have been established in their territory for 30 years.”
Conversely, Adrien Quatennens announced Sunday morning throwing in the towel in the 1st district of the North. The reinvestment of this very porch of Jean-Luc Mélenchon was widely criticized because of his conviction for domestic violence. He is replaced, under the label “New Popular Front”, by his former substitute Aurélien Le Coq, also national co-host of Jeunes insoumis. Supported by the mayor of Lille Martine Aubry, the feminist activist Amy Bah, who had initially set out to denounce the candidacy of Adrien Quatennens, chose to maintain her position.
François Rufin is once again invested in the 1time constituency of the Somme, a complex territory. In 2022 the former documentary filmmaker won more than 40% of the votes in the first round. But in the European elections of June 9, it was the National Rally which came very far in the lead with 40.4% of the votes, ahead of the presidential majority (13.17%), and LFI (11%). François Rufin could rely on his personality, he who is regularly cited on the left as a figure of the rally. The elected official continues to cultivate his difference and maintain a good distance from the Melenchonist line; on the social network
Clémentine Autain, another voice to have denounced these evictions, was reinvested in the 11e constituency of Seine-Saint-Denis. Mathilde Panotpresident of the LFI group in the National Assembly, returns to her 10th constituency in Val-de-Marne. Manuel Bompardcoordinator of La France insoumise, is again a candidate in the 4e Bouches-du-Rhône constituency, the same one where Jean-Luc Mélenchon was elected from 2017 to 2022. Note that the rebellious tribune, who said he was “capable” of donning the clothes of Prime Minister, does not is not a candidate in these legislative elections.
Moreover, Philippe Poutouformer presidential candidate for the New Anticapitalist Party, was invested by LFI in the 1time Aude constituency.
The Socialist Party and Public Square
On the socialist side, it is the surprise return to politics of Francois Hollande which monopolized some of the media attention this weekend. The former President of the Republic is returning to the campaign in his 1st constituency of Corrèze, of which he was the deputy for almost twenty years. The candidate initially announced, Bernard Combes, current mayor of Tulles, agreed to step down in favor of the former head of state. A maneuver which took the leadership of the rose party by surprise, while François Hollande remains reviled by the radical left. “All good intentions are welcome, but everyone must find their place, including the social-democrat abstainers who were disappointed by the five-year term of François Hollande,” warns a left-wing elected official, herself a former -socialist.
Another return from the previous majority: Jérôme Cahuzac, the former Minister of Finance of François Hollande, who fell into disgrace after being convicted of tax fraud, is returning to the campaign in the 3rd constituency of Lot-et-Garonne. Without a label, he will face the LFI Xavier Czaplawho received the nomination of the New Popular Front.
Olivier Faure, the First Secretary of the PS and Boris Vallaudwho chairs the socialist group in the National Assembly, are candidates for their succession, respectively in the 11e constituency of Seine-et-Marne and the 3e Landes constituency. Valérie Rabaultfirst vice-president of the National Assembly until the dissolution, returns to the 1time constituency of Tarn-et-Garonne. She is one of the personalities regularly mentioned as “first minister”, in the event that the left wins an absolute majority on July 7.
Invested by the PS in 2022 in the 6th constituency of Essonne, Jérôme Guedj is a candidate for his succession but chose to campaign without the New Popular Front label, due to deep differences with La France insoumise. Last April, Jean-Luc Mélenchon accused him in a column of “denying the most constant principles of the left of Judaism in France”. Speaking to the newspaper Le Monde, the person concerned said he was shocked to be referred to his religion in this way. In front of him: his own deputy, Hella Kribi-Romdhane, spokesperson for Génération. s, who declared himself a candidate even though this constituency theoretically belonged to the socialists.
“Sadness!” A dissident candidacy facing me, supported by my substitute (25 years of activism together). The only reason: the refusal to understand my fight for values,” reacted Jérôme Guedj on the social network Until the end, his deputy tried to convince him to accept the New Popular Front label,” reports a local elected official. “The candidate of the Popular Front in this constituency is Jérôme Guedj, and he is the only one who can have our support,” reframed Olivier Faure, the first secretary of the PS, this Monday on franceinfo.
Emmanuel Grégoire, Anne Hidalgo’s first deputy as mayor of Paris, will be a candidate in the 7th constituency of Paris, facing Clément Beaune, narrowly re-elected in 2022. An easily winnable seat therefore. According to our information, Anne Hidalgo had asked Lamia El Aaraje, president of the Paris PS federation, rather established in the 15th constituency of the capital, to run as a candidate against the former Minister of Transport. Emmanuel Grégoire would have pulled the rug out from under him, with the blessing of the PS leadership, by quickly announcing his candidacy on social networks, even before the agreement was finalized. “Which says a lot about the state of relations between the mayor and her first deputy,” whispers a heavyweight of the Parisian left.
Ephemeral Minister of Health of Emmanuel Macron and former chief of staff of Élisabeth Borne, Aurélien Rousseau was invested by Place publique in the 7th constituency of Yvelines. This senior official, one of the representatives of the left wing of the macronie, left the government after the adoption of the immigration law in December. Some remember that his involvement in politics began in the 2000s with… the communists.
The ecologists
The environmentalist pole, which brings together The Ecologists – Europe Ecology The Greens, Generation Ecology and Generation. s, reinvested Cyrielle Chatelain, the president of the group at the Palais Bourbon, in the 2nd constituency of Isère. On the other hand, the national secretary of EELV, Marine Tondelier, very established in the mining basin, will not attempt a fourth time to win the 11th constituency of Pas-de-Calais, that of Marine Le Pen. However, she is an alternate to the candidate Samira Laal.
Two other figures of political ecology are returning to battle under the banner of the New Popular Front: Sandrine Rousseau in the 9e constituency of Paris and Delphine Bathoformer minister of François Hollande, in the 2e constituency of Deux-Sèvres. Pierre Larrouturouthe spokesperson for Nouvelle Donne who judiciously joined the Les Écologues-EELV list a few days before the European election, receives the 5e constituency of Essonne. A coveted territory: in 2022, the Macronist Paul Midy won over the mathematician Cédric Villani by… 19 votes.
Another return that we did not expect, that of Dominique Voynet, the former mayor of Montreuil, Minister of Ecology in the Jospin government. She is campaigning in the second constituency of Doubs where she already holds the position of regional secretary of Ecologists – Europe Écologie Les Verts since 2022.
The French Communist Party
With only 50 constituencies, the communists have recovered the minimal portion of the electoral agreement on the left, but nevertheless retain a contingent identical to that negotiated in 2022. Arriving below the 5% mark in the European elections (2.3%), the members of the PCF could hardly hope for better. Their national secretary, Fabien Roussel, is again a candidate in his stronghold of Saint-Amand-les-Eaux, the 20th constituency in the North. Another party figure launched in the campaign: the outgoing deputy Andre Chassaigneelected in the 5th constituency of Puy-de-Dôme since 2002, and president of the Democratic and Republican Left group in the National Assembly.
The respite was short-lived for Léon Deffontaineshead of the communist list in the European elections, went directly back into the campaign to try to win 3e Somme constituency. The battle promises to be arduous: this territory has been acquired by the right since 2002, apart from a socialist interlude from 2012 to 2017.
