National Rally
French left keeps Paris, Marseille and Lyon as far right expands mayoral foothold
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France’s left-wing coalitions held the mayoralties of Paris, Marseille and Lyon in the 2026 municipal elections, while Marine Le Pen’s National Rally said it increased its number of mayors to about 70 nationwide. The results also exposed continuing strains inside the left as conservatives and the far right notched gains in smaller and midsize cities.
Christophe Barthès, newly elected mayor of Carcassonne for Rassemblement national, removed the European Union flag from the town hall facade on Sunday, March 29. In a video posted on X, he folds the flag while writing: «Dehors les drapeaux européens à la mairie ! Place aux drapeaux français».
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In the second round of the 2026 Marseille municipal elections, Benoît Payan (DVG) retained the mayoralty with 54.34% of votes, against Franck Allisio (RN) at 40.30% and Martine Vassal at 5.36%. Payan's Printemps marseillais secured six of the city's eight sectors.
On day six of the Paris appeal trial over alleged misuse of EU funds by Rassemblement National (RN) parliamentary assistants, Perpignan mayor Louis Aliot invoked 'great disorder' on January 22, 2026, to explain hiring militant Laurent Salles without an interview. This follows Marine Le Pen's earlier testimony, as covered in our ongoing series.
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With less than two months until the municipal elections, Jordan Bardella, president of the Rassemblement National, has revealed quantified ambitions for his party, estimating it could win several dozen communes. Marseille is highlighted as the main target, with candidate Franck Allisio neck-and-neck with incumbent mayor Benoît Payan in polls.
Jordan Bardella, president of the Rassemblement national, declared his unwavering loyalty to Marine Le Pen during a televised debate on BFM-TV. He embraces his role as potential replacement if she is barred from running for president due to her appeal trial. The far-right party keeps Le Pen as its official candidate until the outcome of the proceedings.
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In a Le Monde chronicle, Philippe Bernard analyzes how Marine Le Pen and Jordan Bardella's National Rally adopts a catch-all strategy to appeal to various electorates. This approach, however, masks the violence of its program, focused on rejecting 'enemies from within,' mainly foreigners. Historian Laurent Joly links this to the nationalist DNA of the French far right.