Socialists retain political power across France’s major urban areas

France’s National Rally (RN) fell short of its ambition to capture Marseille and Toulon in yesterday’s municipal ballots, a setback that offered a boost to embattled mainstream parties as they eye next year’s presidential contest.

In a separate high-stakes race, Socialist Party candidate Emmanuel Gregoire prevailed in the Paris mayoral contest, defeating conservative ex-minister Rachida Dati and keeping the French capital under left-wing control.

These municipal votes were watched nationwide for signals ahead of the 2027 presidential election, amid opinion polls that have at times shown the anti-immigration, eurosceptic RN as a potential victor.

Still, the thousands of individual municipal races focus on local concerns, and their results do not directly predict who will succeed centrist President Emmanuel Macron.

Next step: the presidential election

Senior figures in the RN dismissed interpretations that losses in Toulon indicated a “glass ceiling” for the party before the presidential vote, pointing out gains in dozens of local councils where they previously had no foothold.

“The National Rally and its candidates have achieved tonight, in this municipal election, the biggest breakthrough in its entire history,” RN chief Jordan Bardella declared.

The party retained control of Perpignan in the first round and picked up a number of smaller cities as well.

Eric Ciotti, a former mainstream conservative who has aligned with the RN, secured victory in Nice, bringing France’s fifth-largest city under far-right leadership.

Nevertheless, failing to take several larger cities — most notably Marseille, the prize the RN most coveted — may signal limits to the party’s rising appeal.

At the same time, projected wins in France’s two largest cities gave the long-weakened Socialist Party cause for optimism.

“Paris will be the heart of the resistance” to any alliance between the mainstream right and the far-right, Socialist victor Mr Gregoire said as he cycled through the city — a gesture that underscored the left’s green priorities in the capital.

Senior mainstream right figures said the municipal outcomes underscored the need for unity if they hope to prevail, particularly in the 2027 presidential race.

Former Prime Minister Edouard Philippe won re-election as mayor of Le Havre in the north, a result that bolsters his prospects should he run for president in 2027.

Mr Philippe, a centre-right politician who served as prime minister under centrist Emmanuel Macron, said the vote offered “reasons to be hopeful” about France’s values and showed the extremes can be defeated.

Marseille, Paris

In Marseille, France’s second-largest city, incumbent Socialist Mayor Benoit Payan was re-elected with just under 54% of the vote, according to an Elabe poll for BFM TV.

Other surveys also showed him victorious; he had been level with the RN after the first round and benefited when his hard-left rival withdrew from the run-off to block a far-right win.

“This city, which some believed lost, showed its most beautiful face, showed that it was capable of resisting,” Mr Payan said.

The Socialist Party also said it had defeated Francois Bayrou, a centre-right former prime minister linked to Macron, in the southwestern city of Pau.

The hard-left France Unbowed (LFI) appeared poised to win in Roubaix, a northern city of nearly 100,000, according to an Ifop-Fiducial poll for TF1, LCI and Sud Radio — encouraging news for a movement that has not focused heavily on local contests until now.

“Traditional parties are losing ground,” Manuel Bompard of LFI said.