“Even though the Socialists didn’t lose the municipal elections, we would be wrong to believe that we won them,” he told Le Parisien.
Family feud
Faure and Vallaud represent the two dueling visions of the Socialists’ future, and their divergent beliefs on how to choose a candidate for 2027 reflect that.
Faure wants to look left. He is gunning for a broad primary, save for France Unbowed, to select a single candidate for the 2027 presidential race among the Socialists, the Greens, the Communists and other left-wing parties. Supporters argue such a primary would maximize the chances of a left-wing candidate reaching the second round.
In the French presidential system, only two candidates qualify for the runoff, and many believe National Rally President Jordan Bardella’s strong poll numbers effectively guarantee him a spot in the final, even this early.
“There’s an illusion that we’re going to win by bringing people who have voted for Macron twice back into the fold, even though they haven’t supported the left for over a decade,” said a Faure-aligned parliamentarian who, like others quoted in this piece, was granted anonymity to speak candidly about internal party dynamics. “It’s doomed to fail, whereas listening to the left population’s aspiration for unity could offer at least a shot at victory.”
Vallaud believes the party needs its own moderate candidate who can appeal to centrist voters, rather than joining a primary that could force them to support a more radical figure from outside their own party.