With its strategy of uniting the left outside the rebels, the Socialist Party hopes to be presented the day after the municipal elections (March 15 and 22) as one of the winners of the vote to appear as the only left-wing political force able to beat the right and the far right during the next presidential election in 2027.

Published on: 02/09/2026 - 6:04 p.m.

Appear victorious during the municipal elections to become essential during the presidential election. After the long budgetary sequence during which it found itself isolated on the left, the Socialist Party (PS) is approaching the municipal elections of March 15 and 22 with the hope of winning in many major cities and, thus, establishing itself as the main adversary of the far right.

“These elections will be the first step, the first dike, the first barrier to the RN [National Rally, Editor’s note] and to the misguided right,” said the first secretary of the PS, Olivier Faure, on Sunday February 8, in front of more than 1,200 people gathered at the Salle de la Mutualité in Paris. “And if we hold this rampart, then yes: we will open the way to 2027,” he added.

Read alsoThe battle for Paris: #SaccageParis, an anti-Hidalgo bludgeoning favorable to the right

After 1965 and 2001, this is the third time in the history of the Fifth Republic that municipal elections have been held so close to the presidential election. A calendar which gives a particular flavor to this local election. Each political party will indeed try to find lessons there with a view to the race for the Élysée, and in particular on the left where divisions have taken over after the union under the banner of the New Popular Front (NFP) during the 2024 legislative elections.

But the Socialist Party is playing big. It currently has between 10,000 and 15,000 local elected officials, around 1,200 mayors and runs a quarter of the towns with more than 20,000 inhabitants. The socialists are especially at the head of some of the biggest cities in France: Paris, Marseille, Nantes, Montpellier, Lille and even Rennes.

“Our objective is to win these municipal elections”, very clearly states the secretary general of the PS, Pierre Jouvet, for whom this means “maintaining what we have”, but also “winning the cities of Saint-Étienne, Limoges, Amiens and Toulouse” and “regaining a foothold” in prefectural cities where the PS has retreated in recent years.

Historic union in Paris

If the far-right party of Jordan Bardella and Marine Le Pen is designated as the main opponent by the PS, it is the competition with La France insoumise (LFI) which will be scrutinized, both by socialist leaders and observers.

Since the vote on the motion of censure which brought down Michel Barnier's government in December 2024, Olivier Faure has taken the risk of dissociating himself from the rest of the left – La France insoumise, Les Écologists, the French Communist Party – to negotiate and save his two successors at Matignon on the question of the budget: first François Bayrou at the start of 2025 then Sébastien Lecornu at the end of 2025 and beginning of 2026.

However, this strategic choice at the national level did not prevent him from managing to forge numerous alliances at the local level with all the components of the left, excluding the rebels.

Also read Municipalities 2026: more than 10 million voters excluded from the vote?

“We have made the choice of union and unity with historic agreements. In 90% of towns with more than 20,000 inhabitants, we will be united from the first round with the ecologists, the communists, Place publique, L’après, Debout!”, insists Pierre Jouvet, who wants to see in this “a sign and considerable political dynamic”.

This is particularly the case in Paris, Marseille, Lyon, Toulouse, Nice, Nantes, Bordeaux and Rennes. But in all these cities with more than 200,000 inhabitants – Montpellier and Strasbourg are exceptions with competing socialist and environmentalist candidates – the union candidate will have to deal with a rebellious candidate on his left.

The rebels “will assume their choices before the voters”

Until now little interested in the municipal elections, La France insoumise has this time decided to lead the battle to establish itself locally, even if it means directly opposing the socialists. If their chances of victory in these cities are rather low, certain LFI candidacies could on the other hand prevent the PS from winning, as in Paris or Marseille.

"Everyone will have to take their responsibilities in the second round. If some on our left prefer to see the city of Marseille fall into the hands of the extreme right, if some on our left want to see Paris fall into the hands of the alliance between Rachida Dati and Sarah Knafo [there is currently no official alliance between the candidates Les Républicains and Reconquête, Editor's note], they will assume their choices and their responsibilities before the voters", warns Pierre Jouvet, for whom the PS is "the only left-wing political force in these municipal elections that can beat the right and the extreme right."

Also read: The battle for Paris: a ballot more open than ever

To convince voters, the socialist lists intend to highlight questions of purchasing power, health, transport, adaptation of cities to climate change, but also security with reinforced municipal police.

The stakes are high for the first secretary of the PS, who is also facing internal opposition regarding the left-wing primary of October 11 in which he wants his party to take part.

“What we do in the municipalities, we must succeed on a national scale,” said Olivier Faure on Sunday, for whom the municipal elections will be a moment of truth.

Keywords associated with the article

The content you are trying to access does not exist or is no longer available.