National Rally and LFI make gains in first round of French local elections

The first round of the French municipal elections produced strong showings for Marine Le Pen’s National Rally (RN) and Jean‑Luc Mélenchon’s La France Insoumise (LFI), with both parties likely to increase their local presence ahead of next year’s presidential race.

The contests move to a final‑round runoff on 22 March and are seen as a crucial test of the political temperature before the 2027 presidential vote. LFI recorded significant increases in votes in several towns and large cities, scoring particularly well in the north in Roubaix where it could win the mayoralty.

The party, which has not historically had a large local presence, also scored strongly in Toulouse, Lille and Limoges after mobilising young voters. The RN, which has traditionally fared less well in local contests, celebrated symbolically high scores. In Marseille, RN candidate Franck Allisio, who ran on bringing “order” to the streets amid drug gang crime, matched incumbent Benoît Payan at about 35.4% in projections, setting up a tense runoff.

France

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