Kmflett's Blog

The second round of the French local elections took place on 22nd March. I’ll post further on quite a complex set of results.

In Paris the hirsute Socialist Party candidate Emmanuel Gregoire beat the right candidate. As if the beard was not enough in itself for Starmer the SP stood in alliance with the Communist Party and the Greens.

The fascist and centre right candidates stood down in the second round, while the left candidate stayed on the ballot after the SP declined a joint ticket. Elsewhere in France the SP and the left did stand on joint tickets with mixed results. Probably the nearest UK equivalent to Melenchon’s LFI is Your Party, but the LFI is a broader left construct

One key aim of course was to stop the candidates for the fascist National Rally. Here again results appear mixed and no doubt influenced by local candidates and contexts.

Much work to before the French Presidential elections in 2027 both at the ballot box and in the wider movement to counter fascism. Lessons from the 1930s remain important here.