The French left gains ground in municipal elections

In the first round of the municipal elections in France on March 9th, the Socialist Party [PS] won the majority vote in numerous towns, notably Paris, Lyon and Lille. For the editorialist Laurent Joffrin, the success "is the result of an historical evolution in the city-dwelling electorate. In large cities, the middle and upper classes are sensitive to ecological and housing issues, two points that are a handicap for the right. ... There is another factor too. If they are winning in big cities and elsewhere, it is also because the socialists, by force of circumstances have united teams that are led by a chosen ringleader with clear plans. Municipal, local socialism is an old left-wing phenomenon that has had considerable success, constrained as it is to realism and imagination, to coherence and unity - precisely the things that the national left lacks."

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