France’s left-wing parties are heading into Sunday’s municipal election runoffs with their candidates at odds over whether to join forces with the hard-left France Unbowed (LFI) party, led by political firebrand Jean-Luc Mélenchon.
The mainstream left's often fraught relations with LFI further soured last month after the fatal beating of a far-right activist by suspected radical left militants, which led to the arrest of two parliamentary aides working for an LFI lawmaker.
In the run-up to the 2026 municipal elections, the Socialist Party had sought to portray LFI as politically untouchable, accusing Mélenchon of making "intolerable anti-Semitic remarks" in a March 3 statement.
Following the first-round vote on March 15, Socialist leader Olivier Faure ruled out any "national agreement" with the hard-left party going into the second round.
His statement left room for manoeuvre at the local level, with Faure keenly aware that several Socialist incumbents would depend on support from LFI voters to win run-offs on March 22.
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Indeed, several Socialist candidates have rushed to strike alliances with candidates from Mélenchon's party, drawing accusations of opportunism and hypocrisy from centrist and right-wing opponents.
Others, more wary of alienating moderate voters, have chosen to reject LFI support, at the risk of splitting the left-wing vote.
From isolation to pragmatism
In several major cities, including Paris, Marseille and Lyon, Socialist candidates had formed first-round alliances with Greens and Communists, excluding LFI.
But the first-round results changed the equation for many candidates locked in tight races.
The hard-left party made significant gains in large cities and even won outright in Saint-Denis, the most populous suburb of Paris that was previously held by a Socialist.
In several other cities, left-wing candidates calculated that refusing an alliance with LFI could cost them victory in the second round.
It's notably the case in Lyon, France’s third-largest city, where Green mayor Grégory Doucet held only a narrow lead over his main centre-right rival in the first round and has since allied with LFI candidate Anaïs Belouassa-Cherifi.
The same has happened in the western city of Nantes, where Socialist mayor Johanna Rolland struck a deal with LFI’s William Aucant to fend off a right-wing challenger.
Similar deals have been struck in places like Grenoble, Clermont-Ferrand and Brest. Described as "technical agreements", these deals involve parties agreeing on a single ticket but with separate political platforms.
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Out of roughly 60 French cities with more than 80,000 inhabitants, 16 now have left-wing alliances that include LFI. These include three cities where the hard-left candidate will become mayor if elected.
In Toulouse, France’s fourth largest city, LFI’s François Piquemal finished ahead of the Socialist candidate and is now heading a joint list against the incumbent conservative mayor.
The same applies in Limoges, where Damien Maudet will lead a joint LFI-Socialist list.
In the Paris suburb of Argenteuil, however, a planned alliance collapsed after the Socialist Party withdrew support from LFI candidate Yassin Zeghli following reports of a 2023 conviction for domestic violence.
Splitting the vote
The decision to strike local deals with LFI has been critised by senior figures on the left, including former Socialist president François Hollande.
European lawmaker Raphaël Glucksmann, a regular critic of Mélenchon who is seen as a likely candidate in next year's presidential election, described the alliances with LFI as both "unethical" and "electorally misguided".
Glucksmann said around 60 candidates from his Place Publique party had withdrawn from lists involving LFI, while others who remained face suspension.
“There can be no ambiguity,” he said. “Allying with a party whose statements we denounced as anti-Semitic just two weeks ago is unacceptable.”
Glucksmann has praised the Socialist candidates in Paris and Marseille for refusing to team up with LFI – a move some analysts say could could cost the left both cities.
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In Paris, Socialist candidate Emmanuel Grégoire comfortably topped the first-round vote. But his main conservative rival Rachida Dati has been boosted by right-wing candidates from other parties either backing her or pulling out of the race.
In contrast, Grégoire's refusal to countenance an alliance with LFI's Sophai Chikirou risks splitting the left-wing vote.
Similarly in Marseille, the Socialist incumbent Benoît Payan has refused to join forces with LFI even as he is locked in a tight race with Marine Le Pen's National Rally, leaving the French far right with its best chance yet of snatching France's second-largest city.
This article was adapted from the original in French
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