What is Happening in France???
To preface this, I am in fact a French citizen, although my interactions with French politics are not as robust as some French-based writers. However, I'm still more than familiar and I write what I want on my own blog.
In order to get a picture of whats going on, I'll start with the briefest recent history lesson before visiting each of the major blocs in turn. This is only going to be a discussion of Metropolitan France! If you want to read about the Outre-Mer please click here [in development]. I am also excluding Corsica. (Overseas electors are technically included, though I won't be discussing overseas exclusive parties).
The Background
Ever since Charles De Gaulle did a coup & created the 5th Republic, there have been two main blocs contesting elections, namely the Left Bloc led by the Parti Socialiste, and the Right Bloc led by the biggest baddest man. This bloc would occasionally see challengers from either the Far right (see the FN in 2002) or smaller groupings to the left or centre.
This hegemony carried through until 2017 where everything collapsed for the traditional big two so it is here that I'll start my discussion on most of the individual political groups.
The "Centre"
Macron's Rise
Following François Hollande's disastrous stint as President from 2012 onwards, the country was seemingly on the hunt for something "new". Into this environment stepped the centrist Economy Minister and political newcomer, Emmanuel Macron who would go on to leave the Parti Socialiste of François Hollande to form his own party in preperation for the Presidential elections. In an incredibly obvious reference to his own initials, he named this party as "En Marche" (translating roughly to moving/working/marching).
This party would market itself as a new alternative, being "neither left nor right" thanks to a liberal, free-market (right-wing) economic policy paired with a do-what-you-want, freethinking liberal social policy (centre-left at best). This allowed him to poach party members from amongst his former colleagues in the Parti Socialiste (who had already bought into the inescapability of free-market economics) as well as some more moderate members of the right wing Les Republicans (those who were more focused on economics then social policy at least). He quickly catapulted himself to frontrunner and became a media sensation, helped by his youth and populist rhetoric.
He managed to win the backing of the Mouvement Démocratique (MoDem) who had previously occupied the centre of the political spectrum through a Christian Democratic tradition and managed to build up an strong coalition looking to ride in on his coattails out of the disaster of the last presidency. A large part of his appeal was his strong personality and attachment to a very presidential form of politics, where he'd be able to "break trough the deadlock" (a trait that will come into play later).
With this, he managed to make it to the second round against the Far-Right Marine Le Pen, which he ultimately won thanks to the help of strategic voting from the left. He managed the same outcome in 2022, cementing his position in the political landscape. Around the party, Macron had formed a coalition by the name of Renaissance (Rebirth) which would then become the name of the party with the coalition being renamed to Ensemble (together).
The Coalition
Within Ensemble, Renaissance remains the largest party with 98 out of the coalition's 159 seats. They are the ideological core of the whole coalition and as such don't stand out from the background. Within Renaissance, there are also affiliated parties. These include the Démocrates et progressistes party who represent the left wing of the party as well as Agir who represent the right of the party (although they only have 9 and 4 MP respectively). There are a number of smaller parties also associated although each with only minor representation.
Also included within Ensemble are the MoDem (as before mentioned, a Christian Democratic Party with 33 MPs), Horizons (a more conservative party founded by former Prime Minister Edouard Philippe with 34 MPs), the Union des démocrates et indépendants (formerly aligned with Les Républicans now with 7 MPs and notably more in the Senate), the Parti Radical (a social liberal party with ties back to the Revolution), & other smaller groupings.
Succession
With Macron now being term limited, the political landscape has been marked by political jockying between his party colleagues. The clear leader in this contest is his first Prime Minister and founder of Horizons, Édouard Philippe. Philippe comes from the right of the coalition, having been a member of Les Républicains up until his nomination as Prime Minister. He gained a lot of popularity specifically thanks to his response to the Covid-19 pandemic and managed to keep most of this good will thanks to his mandate ending soon after.
Alongside him, there some other names that are often thrown around, most notable among them would be now former Prime Minister Gabriel Attal who would likely represent a more continuity candidate, being from Renaissance himself. Each constintuent party is likely to also sponsor their own candidates with the MoDem likely hoping to see François Bayrou on the ticket, the TdP likely to back former Prime Minister Élisabeth Borne. Some pollsters have tested for a potential candidacy of Gérald Darmanin, who comes from the far-right of the party, although his history of sexual coercion would likely disqualify him during the selection process.
- Aurore Bergé
- Yaël Braun-Pivet
- Jean Castex
- Manuel Valls
The Left
Grand Picture
The French Left by in large is fractured into 4 significant parties that it is worth understanding to gain a full picture. Each party has significant ideological differences but in the face of the rightwards slide of the entire French Political landscape, they are driven by the electoral systems to try to form coalition to gain some semblance of potential for electoral success.
The first of these parties is the Parti Socialiste who have historically dominated the left throughout the 5th Republic, however in recent years they have declined significantly, winning 6.36% of the vote in 2017 and dropping to 1.75% in 2022, although they have managed to maintain a significant presence in local government. They represent the Social Democratic tradition in France and put forward a programme that mirrors this. Economically, they are beholden to the free market though they propose small adjustments around the edges to give workers better protections. Socially, they trend progressive, although this has slowly lost emphasis within the party, especially with regards anti-racism where they have been willing to join the right wing assault on migrants and minorities within France. They are also committed Europeanists and put significant emphasis on strenghtening European institutions. Currently, the party is headed by First Secretary Olivier Faure who acts as party leader.
The next significant bloc on the left is La France Insoumise, a movement founded by its current leader, Jean-Luc Mélenchon in 2016. Mélenchon was originally a member of the Parti Socialiste but left in 2008 to advance a break with the new neoliberal consensus, founding the Parti de Gauche which later evolved into LFI. Mélenchon has stood as a candidate in each election since 2012, rising from 11% in 2012, to 20% in 2017, and 22% in 2022. This has left him in a dominant position on the left in presidential terms, massively outcompeting any other left parties in the presidential, although the party has struggled to replicate this success in local and European elections (likely due to lower turnout amongst their working-class base). The party is the furthest left of the 4 major left groupings, advancing a largely anti-capitalist (or at minimum anti-neoliberal) economic policy paired with a fiercely progressive social policy with special emphasis paid to anti-racism which has allowed them to build strong support amongst racialised voters in france. Internationally, they are robust in their support for Palestine and opposed to NATO & continued French intervention in West Africa. They are also generally categorised as Eurosceptic due to their critiques of the blocs economic and social policy. Finally, they emphasise their desire for a 6th Republic and a less presidential political system (although some critique this position when contrasted with Mélenchon's position within the party).
The next significant party is the green Les Écologistes party (sometimes still styled as EÉLV). They trace their roots to the Green & anti-nuclear movements of the 80s and still centre these themes politically. They have struggled to make inroads in the presidential elections, not clearing 5% though they have managed to do better in European (especially 2019) and municipal elections in major towns. Economically they fall to the left of most other major European Green parties, with a clearly Social Democratic platform. Socially, as one would expect, they put significant emphasis on progressive causes. They are committed Europhiles and tend to advance a Federalist position, although they lean pro-Palestinian and anti-militarisation which puts them at odds with their fellow Federalists. Their national secretary is currently Marine Tondelier who represents the left of the party.
The final significant party to understand is the Parti Communiste Français, who were founded in 1920 and dominated the left during the 4th Republic, although their support base has mostly melted away today. They have however, maintained a certain support base, especially in local elections in specific regions. They come from the pro-Soviet communist tradition, although these positions have seen significant moderation over the years to where any revolutionary politics have long been abandoned in favour of Reformist strategies. They do still advance a left wing economic project though. Socially however, the party has leaned somewhat more into vulgar materialism and have advanced a more conservative position over the years, looking to differentiate themselves and tap into the perceived right wing social positions of voters. They are generally classed as Eurosceptic and oppose European integration. The party is currently led by National Secretary Fabien Roussel who stood for the party in the 2022 presidential election.
As this brief explanation makes clear, each party has clearly divergent positions on each seperate issue, which makes it incredibly difficult to build any coherent coalition, especially any coalition that lasts longer than a single election. Paired with this, the extremely variable support levels for each party means that in negociations, each party appears to believe itself to be in the strongest position, where the PS points at its Local election results and polling advantages, LFI points to Mélenchon's dominance in the Presidential, LÉ point to European elections, and the PCF... well nobody think they're dominant.
In the 2024 legislative elections, these parties all banded together to form the Nouveau Front Populaire while in 2022 they united under the banner of the NUPES, however, whether this coalition sticks remains to be seen.
Smaller Parties
As I'm hoping you're learning, French politics is absolutely littered with tiny parties so I'll try to give you the briefest possible overview here, I will miss many but like, gimme a break.
First amongst these minor parties is Génération.s, founded by former PS presidential candidate, Benoît Hamon, who sought to take a more progressive and environmentalist line that the PS proper and now tends to work closer to LÉ or LFI than their parent party. They've managed to win 6 MPs in the National Assembly through their participation in the NFP.
As you'd expect, there is also a significant portion of the left that sits on the more radical end than the major groupings. Of these, there are two parties that have managed to have the most impact, having consistently managed to put forward candidates for the presidency and most elections nationwide. First of these is the Nouveau Parti Anticapitaliste (NPA) who come from a Trotskyist socialist tradition and fielded Philippe Poutou in 2012, 2017, and 2022. The party has recently had some internal divisions over co-operating with the NFP but have managed to keep relevant nonetheless, they often agree to form common lists with LFI but are more relucant towards the rest of the left. The other notable party is Lutte Ouvrière who fielded Nathalie Arthaud in the same 3 elections. LO is famous for its secretive instincts with many members having first been tested during the Vichy regime as well as the cold war environment that followed where the party's predecessors were routinely criminalised (especially following 1968). They also tend to take a more hardline stance than the NPA although they have similar roots in the Trotskyist movement.
The Gauche Républicaine et Socialiste (GRS) split from the PS in 2018-19 in order to advance a more left position that it seemed the larger party was willing to advance. The left-Gaullist Mouvement Républicain et Citoyen is a member of GRS although it remains as an independent party. The GRS currently works with the PCF on the national level.
There are several parties that operate in the orbit around the PS. The most notable amongst them is Place Publique, (de facto) led by MEP Raphaël Glucksmann who headed the PS's list in the European elections. The party was formed in direct opposition to LFI, looking to advance a pro-EU moderate platform. He is currently being floated as a name for the presidential and both pundits and pollsters both like his vibe, though I believe it is overblown nationally. There is also Nouvelle Donne that has a very similar line, although they put more emphasis on a "New Deal" line. On the ecologist line, Génération Écologie advances a more liberal green politics than some of the larger movements, although they have moved to a degrowth position over time.
Within LFI there is a medley of smaller parties each with their own stances and approaches for the movement. The largest current is the Parti de Gauche from which the whole movement emerged. This is Mélenchon's party and represents tha Marxist core of the wider party, though this means their line still doesn't differ too drastically from the main party. From the formerly aligned Ensemble! party, a significant portion had broken off into LFI in the form of the Gauche Ecosocialiste, placing an additional emphasis on ecological questions. The party Pour une Écologique Populaire et Sociale similarly exists with a slight deal more distance from LFI proper in a somewhat more libertarian socialist mileu. The Révolution Écologique pour le Vivant occupies a similar position within LFI, advancing an anti-speciest & animal-rights focused position. Finally, within LFI there is also the Parti Ouvrier Indépendant who instead focus on the syndicalist tradition, placing themselves clearly in the workers movement (although the POI has several internal currents on top of this still).
From this collection, there have been two significant parties that split off from LFI in recent years. The first of these is François Ruffin's Debout! party, which was initially founded as a local-focused party in Somme/Picardie. However, due to issues with candidate selection & Ruffin's clear personal desire to run for the presidency, they ultimately split. The other of these parties is L'Après, that split off in an (ironic) effort to create a more long-lasting left coalition.
Obviously, with France being a disputed concept in and of itself, there are also a number of regionalit parties that join the larger left. Among these are Euskal Herria Bai who run in the Basque Country, the Union Démocratique Breton who run in Brittany, and Alternative Alsacienne - 's Linke Elsass who run in Alsace.