These municipal elections were a double test for the left. Quantitative, first of all: how many cities could, after this first round, keep or win the socialists and the ecologists. The second lesson is the balance of power within the left, and in particular between the PS, at the head of several thousand municipalities, and the Greens who only managed Grenoble as a big city.
On the evening of the first round, the observation is obvious: the Greens are experiencing a historic breakthrough in many cities, and among the largest. After Grenoble, where the outgoing mayor, Eric Piolle comes very far in the lead (44%), Lyon could thus "fall" into the pockets of environmentalists. With almost 30% of the vote, Grégory Doucet, who went off alone to conquer the capital of Gaul, far ahead of the LR-UDI candidates (16%) and LREM, the macronist camp suffering, it is true, from dissent, both in the city stricto sensu than in the metropolis. The Greens are thus beating the PS / PCF union list flatly… Environmentalists are also leading in Strasbourg where they left under their own colors.
An equally unprecedented success in Bordeaux: with almost 35%, the Green, Pierre Hurmic, is neck and neck with the outgoing LR mayor, Nicolas Florian, dauphin of Alain Juppé. In the Gironde capital, the EELV candidate is at the head of a union list with the left. But, in the end, the next mayor of Bordeaux could well be an environmentalist. Quite a symbol! In Besançon, too, unity should be strength. And there again, it is an ecologist, Anne Vignot, who leads the list on the left. It leads (31%) ahead of Les Républicains (23.6%) and LREM candidate Eric Alauzet (18.9%).
"Voters vote for union on the left"
This breakthrough is also noticeable in the cities where the PS comes first. This is the case in Lille where Stéphane Baly came second behind Martine Aubry, with a score (24.3%) much higher than that of the Greens in 2014 (11%). Ditto in Rennes (25%) or Rouen (24%). "Environmentalists are no longer a back-up force," said Yannick Jadot, former head of the Greens' European list, this Sunday. We are a central force, at the center of everything. "And to launch, perhaps in the direction of his own camp:" The time is no longer the confrontation but the largest possible rally. "
VIDEO. Municipal: Dati, ahead, calls "to turn the page on Hidalgo"
For its part, the PS, which played nothing less than its survival in these municipal, pushes a sigh of relief. Still benefiting from a large regional presence, despite its sharp decline in 2014 and competition from En Marche and environmentalists, the party led by Olivier Faure does better than resist. In Paris, with an overall score of almost 30%, Anne Hidalgo is well on her way to succeeding herself. Which was far from being won a few months ago. Like Martine Aubry, in Lille, who is also approaching the 30% mark.
In Le Mans, the former Minister of Agriculture of François Hollande, Stéphane Le Foll, exceeds 40%, a score that his friend François Rebsamen is familiar with in Dijon. In its bastions of the West, where environmentalists disputed its pre-eminence, the PS recorded good results. Joanna Rolland, in Nantes and Nathalie Appéré, in Rennes should win a new mandate while in Brest, François Cuillandre turns around 26% but must face a complicated second round. "What is obvious is that the voters vote for the union on the left, judges a close to Faure. For the rest, apart from two or three cities where the ecologists undoubtedly score points, they are rather further behind us than the polls promised them. "
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VIDEO. Municipal: Anne Hidalgo calls for unity