Far right seeks to cement grasp on French cities in mayoral run-off, analyst says

Record ID: 2367809

  • Title: Far right seeks to cement grasp on French cities in mayoral run-off, analyst says
  • Date: 19th March 2026
  • Summary: PARIS, FRANCE (MARCH 18, 2026) (REUTERS) (SOUNDBITE) (French) VARIOUS OF EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR CENTRE OF POLITICAL SCIENCES AT SCIENCES PO, ANNE MUXEL, WORKING AT COMPUTER, SAYING: “We will watch closely what will happen in Marseille, because Marseille is quite a symbolic city in France, where we have an electoral competition that is very intense, with the National Rally (All
  • Embargoed:
  • Keywords: France LFI Macron National Rally far right mayor municipal elections second round
  • Location: VARIOUS LOCATIONS, FRANCE
  • City: VARIOUS LOCATIONS, FRANCE
  • Country: France
  • Topics: Europe,Government/Politics,Elections/Voting
  • Reuters ID: LVA006554319032026RP1
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: France’s National Rally (RN) aims to establish itself as a legitimate governing figure in French cities by bidding to make significant gains in the country’s municipal run-off votes on Sunday (March 22) ahead of next year’s presidential election, an analyst said on Wednesday (March 18).
    One of the most closely-watched races is in Marseille, where the RN is wrestling with the Socialist incumbent for control of France’s second biggest city.
    Political analyst Anne Muxel said an RN win in Marseille would cement its “territorial integration on the municipal level” ahead of the 2027 race.
    “It's true that these 2026 municipal elections do not mark a landslide for the National Rally - far from that. But simply put, it stands to confirm its territorial integration in France," she said.
    The RN’s Franck Allisio and current Socialist Mayor Benoit Payan scored 35% and 36% respectively of the first round votes on Sunday’s (March 15) first round of voting.
    With hard-left France Unbowed (LFI) candidate Sebastien Delogu withdrawing from the run-off, Payan might have an edge to block the far right from victory, Muxel said.
    In Paris, conservative Rachida Dati and Socialist Emmanuel Gregoire will battle to win the capital’s mayoral seat, with LFI hopeful Sophia Chikirou trailing far behind in the race.
    Gregoire, who leaped in front of Dati in the first round of the election, has refused an alliance with the LFI.
    But Dati still has a path to victory, Muxel said, as her camp could absorb voters of other candidates who chose to stand down in the run-off.
    “It seems that it will be a tighter race than what we believed," Muxel said.
    Muxel said the municipal elections showed unhealed divisions within the left, but highlighted that left-wing parties, including the Socialists, Greens and LFI, could unite for the presidential election.
    She said that after LFI’s good performance in the mayoral elections, hard-left figure Jean-Luc Melenchon, a former presidential candidate, now finds himself in a position of power especially if left-wing groups try to name a sole candidate in the 2027 race.
    (Production: Clotaire Achi, Lucien Libert, Manon Cruz, Ardee Napolitano)
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