Outgoing MP in Val-de-Marne, Mathilde Panot is aiming for a new mandate. Will its results be up to par?
Will Mathilde Panot regain her seat in the National Assembly after the legislative elections? The rebellious MP candidate for re-election in the 10th constituency of Val-de-Marne already hopes to come first in the first round of voting organized this Sunday, June 30, failing to win with more than 50% of the votes and the vote of at least 25% of those registered on the electoral lists and to avoid a duel or a triangular in the second round scheduled for July 7.
The rebels wear the colors of the New Popular Front during these legislative elections. During the campaign, she was compared to Léon Blum, which did not fail to provoke a reaction. A comparison made by Jean-Luc Mélenchon, but visibly unjustified. “When Léon Blum became head of government in 1936, he was not at the level of Manuel Bompard, nor Mathilde Panot or Clémence Guetté” declared the boss of the rebels at a meeting on June 23. Wanting to explain the point and the comparison perhaps considered presumptuous, Mathilde Panot explained on BFMTV: “Jean-Luc Mélenchon was talking about the parliamentary experience that we have, which Blum did not have at the time”. But then, Léon Blum was much more experienced in 1936 than the rebel is in 2024. At the time, Léon Blum had already spent 17 years in Parliament when Matilde Panot only has two mandates to her credit, including one shortened by dissolution, i.e. 7 years in the National Assembly.
During the previous election, she was already a candidate for the left-wing union, which was then called the New Popular Ecological and Social Union (Nupes). Mathilde Panot is also proud to represent the left-wing alliance, which she considers “historic” because it was formed in four days and before the first round of voting. She does not fail to draw a parallel with the Popular Front of 1936, which won the election and allowed the left to establish itself in government.
But the candidate of the left union in the legislative elections does not find herself facing competitors from the two other major blocs of the vote: the presidential majority represented by Shannon Seban and the National Rally whose candidate is Elise Lin. Mathilde Panot is also a candidate facing candidates from the far left, including Selma Labib for the New Anti-Capitalist Party.
What results can Mathilde Panot hope for in the legislative elections?
Mathilde Panot has a chance of being re-elected as deputy for the 10th constituency of Val-de-Marne, which is territory acquired by the left, and La France insoumise, for several elections. The insoumise has already been elected twice in this constituency, in 2017 and in 2022. During the previous election, she came first in the first round with 54% of the votes cast and confirmed her large victory against the candidate of the presidential majority in the second round with 67.63% of the votes against 32.37%.
The left, and more specifically LFI, won the European elections held at the beginning of June. Mathilde Panot’s party came out on top with 33.26% of the votes in the 10th constituency of Val-de-Marne, far ahead of the other lists, including those on the left such as the PS which came in second with 15.27%, but also the far right (13.38%) and the presidential majority (9.49%).
Tight duel between the left and the RN announced by the polls
The results of the legislative election polls, which were published until midnight on Friday, June 28, rather announced a victory for the National Rally at the end of the vote, but they put the union of the left only a few points behind: more than 30% of voting intentions for the extreme right while the left fluctuated between 25 and 30%. But these polls reflect trends observed at a specific time and at the national level while the legislative elections are more similar to 577 local elections.
