00:09So the battle for France will be fierce, says France's new socialist mayor, warning Paris will be at the heart
00:16of the resistance against this alliance of the right, which seeks to take away what we hold most precious and
00:22fragile, the simple joy of living together.
00:25Emmanuel Grégoire, as the left retained the control of Paris and France's other two largest cities, and a blow to
00:31the far right ahead of presidential elections due here in a year's time.
00:35The far right sees 2027 as its best chance yet to seize power, and although they won several medium-sized
00:41enclaves in the south, they failed to capture any major prizes despite the predictions.
00:46Well, let's hear first of all then from Emmanuel Grégoire, the victor there, and his right-wing opponent as well,
00:51Rashida Dati.
00:53I am thinking of the most vulnerable, of those who are, this very evening, sleeping on the streets of Paris,
00:58of the children who are suffering.
01:01I am thinking of all the most vulnerable who have needed the left since 2001 and who we will continue
01:06to support and protect as best we can.
01:13In any case, let me tell you, our joy is immense.
01:20Our ambitions for Paris were strong.
01:24We wanted real change.
01:27Our campaign was full of conviction and determination, but this momentum was not enough.
01:35I was unable to convince enough people that change was not only possible, but necessary.
01:40I was also the victim of deceitful insults and attacks, blows that are unacceptable in a democracy.
01:51Rashida Dati and Emmanuel Grégoire there.
01:54Well, let's talk now to Lecturer in Liberal Arts at Queen Mary University of London, Andrew Smith.
01:59Andrew, great to have you with us for your analysis as ever here on France 24.
02:03I mean, the Socialists winning here in Paris then, in the end, a pretty good night for them.
02:08And they held on, didn't they?
02:12Yeah, I think there'll be jubilation amongst the Socialist camp around this victory in Paris.
02:21Of course, things started to look a little bit dicey, I think, between the first and second round.
02:26You know, we saw the centrist candidate merge his list with Rashida Dati.
02:31We saw the far-right candidate, Sarah Knafo, step back.
02:34And that all seemed to be the kind of mood music was that this was strengthening Dati's hand in some
02:39ways.
02:40But she's very much a Marmite candidate.
02:42People really did not warm to her.
02:44There was a lot of other kind of problems around it.
02:46And actually, I think this was all to the benefit of Emmanuel Grégoire, who ruled out an alliance with the
02:51far-left, who stuck to his guns.
02:53You know, he didn't kind of get one of these technical mergers behind the scenes or anything like that.
02:57He campaigned on his own merits, on his record, working with Anidal Gault.
03:04And it all seems very positive.
03:06It'll be a memorable image of last night as well, of him riding to the results on his bicycle.
03:12And it really seems to symbolise something in Paris.
03:15But I think, importantly, there'll be a bitter morning coffee in the Élysée Palace this morning.
03:20Because there was, of course, all of the rumours that Emmanuel Macron, the president, had in some ways either sort
03:27of tried to put in some calls in support of Dati, whether he was just sort of pulling in that
03:33direction or whether he'd be actively engaged.
03:34He denied it.
03:35He said he'd got better things to do.
03:37But nonetheless, I think for the socialists, this is a fantastic victory and a really important one that strengthens their
03:43ambitions and really clarifies their strategy ahead of elections to come.
03:48Let's talk about the far right now, Andrew.
03:50I mean, here in Paris, of course, they're sort of nowhere.
03:52But across the country, they were really hoping for a good showing, weren't they, ahead of the presidentials in a
03:59year's time.
04:00Let's hear from the president of the far right, Jordan Bandela, putting a brave face on it, as they didn't
04:06do as well as predicted.
04:11This evening is one of victory and hope.
04:14National Rally has achieved its biggest breakthrough in history tonight.
04:20In Marseille, National Rally and its allies have established themselves as the leading opposition force, now the only bulwark against
04:28the far left.
04:29Following this vote, National Rally and its allies have never counted so many elected representatives in France.
04:37Yeah, as I say, putting rather a brave phrase on it.
04:39I mean, OK, they did very well, but not as well as predicted.
04:43Crucially, didn't take Marseille.
04:46Yeah, I think that's a really significant moment.
04:49That Marseille result, I think, is one that people will be talking about for a while.
04:54It was one of their key targets.
04:56And then a number of their key targets, they were beaten back.
04:59And I think this contrasts some of the language we often see in the media about almost the inevitability of
05:06the far right dominating.
05:07And we know they've dominated in the polls, the presidential polls.
05:11A lot of that's about anger with the status quo.
05:14A lot of that's also about clarity around who the candidate will be and the idea that they represent an
05:19alternative in that sense.
05:20But I think one of the things we've seen with the results last night is that, if anything, this is
05:25maybe a structural problem, but it's not a cyclical problem.
05:29This is not the time of the far right.
05:31But it does show us, actually, that they have made inroads.
05:34You know, they've got a whole bunch of those kind of small towns.
05:37They've built up some kind of results that they will be quite pleased with in many ways.
05:41But places like Marseille, places like Toulon, places like Elance, of course, in the first round, they expected to make
05:47some inroads.
05:48These were big disappointments for them.
05:50Now, you know, the places like, of course, Carcassonne, you know, a big place down south, which has been for
05:57a long time, really shifted away from that idea of the far right, except at a very low municipal level.
06:04But a place like Nice as well.
06:06And that's a really important one, of course, with Eric Chioty.
06:09Of course, he's not of the Rassemblement National, but he's obviously led that charge, that rally towards a unified right
06:16towards the far right.
06:17So Chioty will be pleased, but that's not the Rassemblement National banner.
06:22Bardella will be pleased with some of the inroads and establishing a local presence.
06:26But I think the overall tone is that actually there are viable alternatives.
06:30There is no inevitability about this election.
06:33And actually, where they've made those inroads is often in smaller places, often where turnout has been weak.
06:39And I think that is one of the biggest variables that we'll still see.
06:42Turnout was not overwhelming.
06:44It was not boom time in terms of people dropping those ballots in the ballot box.
06:49It is still a need to mobilise to get out.
06:51And actually, what we've seen this last election last night, the results have shown us, is that many of those
06:56traditional parties, the centre-left, the centre-right, still have life in them, still have the ability to kind of
07:02mobilise and campaign on their own right and not to make concessions to the extremes.
07:08And actually, if they make those offers clearly, if they're honest about what they're presenting, then they can meet the
07:14public where they are.
07:14And they can offer viable alternatives to the status quo.
07:17So there's a lot to learn. And I think the campaign strategists will already be crunching numbers, looking at candidates
07:23and trying to work out how those primaries are going to run in anticipation of 2027.
07:28Yeah, let's hear from Eric Ciotti. You mentioned him there, Andrew.
07:32Of course, he was, as you say, with the right-wing party.
07:36He's moved, separated from them, moved further, far right.
07:39Let's hear what he had to say about his win in Nice.
08:03Eric Ciotti talking there again, stalling the virtues, I suppose, of him and his fire.
08:11Slightly moving to the right. Where does this leave everything then, Andrew, for the presidentials?
08:16I mean, as you say earlier on, we've long heard here in France, everything's moving to the far right.
08:21The far left were doing quite well as well.
08:23But this seems to have funnelled everything back to a certain extent towards the more centrist parties, doesn't it?
08:30Well, one of the really challenging things is, I think, as Ciotti's victory showed, that was about name recognition, about
08:37personal campaign and about kind of belonging in the area.
08:41Christian Estrosi, his one-time mentor, then rival, desperate, bitter rival, had kind of cleaved much closer to the Macronist
08:47centre, had tried to run a campaign, reaching out to the left, had tried to show himself to be a
08:52kind of, you know, an umbrella and something for everyone.
08:54He was sort of disowned, really, by the National Party, by Bruno Retaio and the Republicans, and they refused to
09:02kind of speak up for him in favour of Ciotti.
09:05But what that maybe shows is nothing about the kind of the centre-right needing to do one thing or
09:10another or the far right.
09:11I think what it shows is the importance of clarity of candidate, clarity of message, and of trying to meet
09:17people on the ground where they are.
09:19One of the things that the big loss for last night, if anything, was that neologism, that new word which
09:25crept in in the first round of the technical fusion, the technical merger.
09:29This idea that these backroom deals were being done between, for example, La France Insoumise, France Unbaude, and the Socialist
09:36Party.
09:37That was an unsuccessful strategy where we saw it take place.
09:40And the story, we have to say, in places like Paris and indeed in Marseille, was that actually where the
09:46left stood on its own two feet, that actually it stood and it won.
09:50And already this morning, we've seen people all across the left saying, well, one of the big problems we have,
09:56the lessons in this election, is Jean-Luc MĂ©lenchon was the problem.
09:59That's what actually kind of holds back that fusion of the left and that broader idea of what's going on.
10:04I don't think he's going anywhere for 2027, so that's going to continue to be a problem.
10:08On the right, in the centre-right, people like Valérie Pécresse, of course, a former presidential candidate, have said, well,
10:13what they need is a unified candidate.
10:15What they need is clarity, someone to express what the right wing actually is.
10:20At the moment, the right wing is a rainbow in France, and it's really difficult to try and unify what
10:25we're actually talking about.
10:26People don't know what actually anybody represents in that broad spectrum.
10:30And so the need is for more clarity.
10:32Already, people like GĂ©rard Darmanin have called for that, for one candidate.
10:36But we know already there's going to be a number.
10:38We know that Edouard Philippe will run.
10:40We know Bruno Rettayot will run.
10:41Will they put themselves in a primary and try to kind of draw themselves?
10:45That's going to be the big challenge.
10:46Edouard Philippe, of course, strengthened by last night's results in Le Havre.
10:50He's done well.
10:51He will put himself forward for 2027.
10:53There is some kind of comfort, I think, for the centre.
10:57Even people like Gabrielle Attal is able to say that, you know, that left centre, macro and east middle still
11:02has a role to play, perhaps supporting someone else.
11:05There is, I think, the space in the kind of the mainstream of French politics.
11:09And it does not belong to the extremes.
11:12I think the more people talk up ideas of abstention, the more people talk up anger and emotion, the more
11:18people talk up the extremes of politics.
11:21That's where the danger lies, because that pushes people towards extremes away from the ballot box.
11:26If people can construct a useful vision which articulates political values, I think the lesson of last night is that
11:33there is an election there to be won.
11:35However, candidates need to declare soon, and there will be lots of people working on the lessons of last night,
11:40very, very strongly over the months to come.
11:43Yeah, all to follow in the next year.
11:44Andrew will be following it, I'm sure.
11:46We'll be following it here on France 24 as well.
11:49Andrew, good to have you with us as ever.
11:50Andrew Smith joining us from Queen Mary University of London.
11:54Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you,
11:54thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you,
11:54thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you,
11:54thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you.
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