The French 2014 Municipal Elections: A Left That is Bruised by the Rise of the Blues


Despite maintaining the control in Lyon and in Paris with Anna Hidalgo as the first female mayor of the capital, the second round of voting in the nationwide municipal elections left the Socialists (PS) with devastating losses on 30th March. However, the opposition (UMP), which has a history of losing during the municipal elections saw a big rise in popularity, not to mention the accompanying unprecedented rise of the Front National (FN), led by Marine Le Pen, who secured 1200 municipal council seats. The PS lost the control of 155 towns and cities in France, including ones that were long-lasting Socialist supporters. UMP leader Jean-François Copé described the success of his party as a “blue wave”, gaining power in keys cities such as Limoges, Quimper, Reims, Roubaix, Toulouse and Tourcoing[1], which had been left wing since 1912.

François Hollande
With abstentions breaking the records, the Socialists and other left wing parties won 40% of the results while 46% was given to the combined mainstream right (572 mayors for the right and 349 for the left, in towns with populations of over 10,000).[2]

Claiming a breakthrough with the acquisition of a total of 11 cities, it is thought that the success of the FN could well mean the party finds itself at the top of the elections in the upcoming European Parliament elections in May. According to El Pais, National Front voters are made up of people from all sections of society, immigrants included.[3] The FN’s biggest win was the 7th district of France’s third largest city, Marseille, of which 150,000 of its population is racially-mixed. This is because more French citizens have placed their trust in the hands of the FN due to their concerns on immigration, free trade, unemployment (affecting four million people in the country) and low earning as well as the power of the EU.[4] The rise of support for the National Front symbolises deep discomfort. Le Pen’s anti-liberal and anti-European message seems to have appealed to people’s worries. Those fearing the FN say that it can only be hoped that the “hard blow” in France will function as a severe lesson against the excesses of imprudence during the last 20 years in Europe, expecting the EU to take note of the “severity” that comes with the extreme right becoming a leading populist party in France.

Marine Le Pen

With regards to the Socialists, we can perhaps say that voters wanted to send a message to the president and punish his government because of their lack of satisfaction with his policies since he came to office in 2012. This further increase of discontent among citizens, which did not come as a surprise with the low popularity of François Hollande and his government, led to a sudden change of Prime Minister, with ex-interior minister Manuel Valls replacing Jean-Marc Ayrault following his resignation on 31st March. Will the nation’s favourite politician according to the opinion polls help the population regain its trust in François Hollande?

New Prime Minister, Manuel Valls

The new “fighting” government will not only have to face the fresh electoral difficulty at European polls in the next month but prior to this, France must present its spending plans and the public deficit to the European Commission in Brussels this week. It has promised €50 billion of savings from public spending in 2015-2017.[5] European partners are waiting to see whether these local election results will affect Hollande’s economic course or whether he will maintain his policies until the next presidential elections in 2017.




[1] http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-26807739
[2] http://www.economist.com/blogs/charlemagne/2014/03/frances-local-elections-0
[3] http://elpais.com/elpais/2014/04/01/inenglish/1396360452_471350.html
[4] http://www.euronews.com/2014/03/31/french-blues-conservatives-win-elections-far-right-gains-left-lies-bruised/
[5] http://www.economist.com/blogs/charlemagne/2014/03/frances-local-elections-0

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