The first-round of the French municipal elections have seen a strong showing for the National Rally (RN), which could in turn predict a strong performance in next year’s French presidential race.
Jean-Luc Mélenchon’s far-left La France Insoumise (LFI) also performed well. In contrast, the traditionalist parties of recent history—Socialists and Les Républicains—are undergoing a process of collapse.
In Marseille RN candidate Franck Allisio tied with the incumbent leftwing mayor, Benoît Payan, with both securing more than 35.4% of the projected vote, prompting a final-round runoff. Allisio claimed:
The wind of change is blowing over Marseille … This is more than a score, it’s a promise that tomorrow Marseille becomes the new French example.
While the RN addresses public concerns with crime and mass migration, the LFI has sought to capture the urban Muslim vote.
The local elections will now go to a final round runoff on March 22nd.
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