Could have hoped for more: RN figurehead Marine Le Pen.Image: keystone
Paris and Marseille remain left-wing: Left-wing candidates prevailed in the second round of local elections today in France’s two largest cities.
Mar 23, 2026, 4:41 a.mMar 23, 2026, 4:41 a.m
The socialists and allies defend Paris and Marseille, the right-wing nationalists fail in several major cities and the left also misses victory several times: according to initial projections, this is the result of the French local elections.
A year before the presidential election, the vote can only be read to a limited extent as a mood test for the national level. But it is likely to play a central role in the power struggles within the camp.
Right-wing nationalists had hoped for more
For Marine Le Pen’s Rassemblement National (RN), the result is likely to be sobering despite individual wins. In the first round of voting, their list led by Franck Allisio landed just behind the previous mayor Benoît Payan in the second largest French city, Marseille. Leading the port city would have been an enormous success for the right-wing populists. But according to the projections, they clearly missed out on winning in Marseille.
Even in Nîmes and Toulon, where RN had hopes, they only ended up in second place. At least Eric Ciotti, a non-party ally of the right-wing nationalists, ended up ahead in Nice. Le Pen nevertheless wrote of an “immense victory”.
The Greens, who scored massive victories six years ago, will probably lose Strasbourg, but according to projections they were able to hold on in Lyon.
The left-wing La France Insoumise (LFI) is also likely to be disappointed with the election outcome. Although it was clearly ahead in Roubaix in northern France, the left-wing lists in Lille and Toulouse, according to projections, missed the hoped-for first place. The sometimes populist party, which has not been so well anchored locally, can still look forward to gains and has set its sights directly on next year’s presidential election.
Parties will now sort themselves out for the presidential election
And LFI was not the only party that, on the evening of the election, drew attention to the election of a new head of state next spring. President Emmanuel Macron will no longer be able to run after two terms in office. In surveys, the right-wing nationalist Le Pen or her political foster son Jordan Bardella receive the most support for a candidacy. The left-wing political camp and the center-right are still unsorted.
The outcome of the local elections is now likely to bring movement to the internal camp struggles. The conservatives, for example, called for a clear break with previous policy, which would probably speak against a common candidate from the center-right camp.
Within the left bloc, the socialists could claim a leadership role. There will also be intensive discussions about whether socialists, communists and Greens want to join forces with the left-wing LFI. According to projections, in several cities where the parties joined forces with LFI, it was not enough to win, such as Limoges and Besançon. In Lille and Rennes, however, the other left-wing parties did not form an alliance with the left-wing populist LFI and won.
Limited mood test
However, it would be too short-sighted to draw direct conclusions about the outcome of the presidential election from the results of the local elections. According to the renowned polling institute Ipsos, local issues were crucial for almost nine out of ten voters. A good 40 percent also found the political and economic situation at the national level to be decisive. Nevertheless, local and national voting sometimes differs, also because some parties such as RN or Macron’s Renaissance are still rather poorly anchored locally.
It will still be exciting to see what the local elections will mean for the government and President Macron. The fact that the parties have now gained new self-confidence and are clearly focusing on the upcoming presidential election could make it more difficult for the minority government to find the necessary support for its plans among the opposition.