in the Nord and Pas-de-Calais, the rout of the PS despite local roots
The fabric of elected socialists in these two departments did not prevent the debacle of Anne Hidalgo (1.74%) in the 1st round of the presidential election. The PS cities of Boulogne, Liévin, Lens, Douai or Calais voted mainly for Marine Le Pen (RN). The PS communes of Lille and Grande-Synthe carried Jean-Luc Mélenchon (LFI) in the lead.
“A historic defeat”. Olivier Faure, First Secretary of the Socialist Party, was not mistaken in the qualifier. Never had the PS obtained a worse score since the beginning of the 5th Republic. With 1.74%, Anne Hidalgo narrowly overtakes the far left candidates Philippe Poutou (0.77%) and Nathalie Arthaud (0.57%), but is relegated behind the communist candidate Fabien Roussel (2.31%). Again, a first since 1969.
Anne Hidalgo’s score in the North (1.43%) and in Pas-de-Calais (1.47%) is the same lower than the figure reached nationally. However, these two departments are historically strongholds of the Socialist Party. Local anchoring is still present there. The general council of Pas-de-Calais is led by the socialist Jean-Claude Leroy. Boulogne-sur-Mer, Lens, Liévin, the largest towns in the department behind Calais and Arras, remained in the hands of the socialists. Without forgetting Lille, in the North, piloted by the socialist Martine Aubry.
“Local anchoring no longer counts, Sweeps political scientist Rémi Lefebvre. Voters clearly differentiate between local and national elections.” Anne Hidalgo paid the price, five years after the first explosion named Benoit Hamon (6.4% of the vote in 2017). The mayor of Lille, Martine Aubry, however mentioned the campaign of the PS candidate before calling for “beat the far right” by Marine Le Pen.
The list is long of the socialist town halls of Pas-de-Calais and Nord where Marine Le Pen came out on top in the first round of this presidential election: Boulogne-sur-Mer (32.52%), Lens (39.70%), Liévin (45.61%), Carvin (40.72%), Denain (41.67%), Douai (28.07% )… Already in 2017, the RN candidate had won in these municipalities. Five years later, it is only consolidating its hold on these territories. “The RN vote is a groundswell, local anchoring is no longer an obstacle to this vote”, analyzes Rémi Lefebvre, professor of political science at the University of Lille.
In these cities, the Socialist Party continued to decline after the snub of 2017. For example, in Boulogne-sur-Mer, led by Frédéric Cuvillier (PS), Anne Hidalgo won 706 votes less than Benoit Hamon. In Lens, city held by Sylvain Robert (PS) since 2013, the candidate
“What is spectacular is the difference between local elections and national elections”, note Rémi Lefebvre. Liévin illustrates this dissonance. In 2020, during the municipal elections, the RN candidate, Louis Mompeu, obtained only 15.97% of the vote against the PS candidate, Laurent Duporge, who won 73.52%. A reverse trend for the presidential election, with 45.61% for Marine Le Pen and 19.70% for Jean-Luc Mélenchon, while Anne Hidalgo only reaches 2.63%.
The northern metropolis is another illustration of the size of the socialist rout. On Sunday, Anne Hidalgo received only 2,000 ballots there, or 7,849 less than for Benoit Hamon in 2017. In this socialist city since 1955, led since 2001 by Martine Aubry, the rebellious France of Jean-Luc Mélenchon came out on top with 40, 53% of the votes in the 1st round of the presidential election.
“More than 40% is huge, comments Rémi Lefebvre. Lille is a left-wing city that has switched from socialism to Insoumis, through the effect of the useful vote. In 2017, Mélenchon had already taken first place, ahead of Emmanuel Macron. But this year, the candidate wins nearly 9,000 additional ballots. “Abe careful, LFI is not the owner of this leftist vote”, nuance, however, the political scientist.
The crushing defeat of Anne Hidalgo weakens the already delicate financial situation of the PS. Having arrived below the 5% mark, the party will not be reimbursed by the State for its campaign costs.