In Marseille, the French Left is Finally Uniting
For years, divisions on France’s left have helped Emmanuel Macron and Marine Le Pen dominate the political terrain. But in the country’s second city, grassroots pressure has forced them to put aside their differences — and ahead of March 2020’s elections, they’re promising to launch a “Marseille Spring.”
The Marseille harbor. Andy Wright / flickr
The working-class port city of Marseille has always had something of an independent streak — and today, that extends to politics.
Galvanized by fears of being crowded out by the competition, left-wing activists in this age-old melting pot on the shores of the Mediterranean are setting aside their differences — and working together. Ahead of municipal elections set for March, the Socialist Party (PS), La France Insoumise, the French Communist Party, and former presidential candidate Benoît Hamon’s Génération.s. are all running under a single ticket: Le Printemps Marseillais, or Marseille Spring.
Such an alliance stands in stark contrast to the main forces at the national level, a landscape dominated by Emmanuel Macron’s centrist La République en Marche! and Marine Le Pen’s far-right Rassemblement National. But Marseille Spring isn’t just hoping to make a good showing. Indeed, if the city’s past voting patterns are any indication, this brand-new coalition stands a decent chance of actually taking over municipal government.
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