He is without a party but not without a horizon. Jean-Luc Moudenc, the mayor of Toulouse, confirmed bluntly on Tuesday that he will be a candidate for his succession during the 2026 municipal elections. The one who left Les Républicains in November 2022 because he feared their “right-winging” will therefore run for a third consecutive term without necessarily seeking a new political home base.
While his “friend” Edward Philip is expected in the Pink City this Tuesday evening, the city councilor nipped in the bud any speculation as to his rallying to the party of the former Prime Minister. “I want to stay free,” he says. “Priority goes to municipal action” also assured Jean-Luc Moudenc who made his “mid-term review” on Tuesday and praised his “team, of a political pluralism which is not common”.
“Alibi” greens and a “kneeling” PS
“We demonstrate that progress is possible without choosing the extremes, which promise everything and anything, some in excess and destruction”, adds the already candidate who promises that he “will present an ecological report to the Toulouse residents of a magnitude that no team has presented so far”. With in particular the construction site, which will be well advanced in 2026, of the third metro line capable of “removing 90,000 vehicles per day from the ring road”.
Jean-Luc Moudenc therefore prefers this time to gain momentum rather than playing the suspense like the last time. He even made La France insoumise his main opponent in the next battle for the Capitol in advance, not forgetting to sow discord on the left. “The municipal opposition has changed in nature, he analyzes. It is dominated by LFI, with a green alibi which serves as a screen and a Socialist Party which has knelt down”.
Decidedly, the season of hostilities begins early.