Full left! In Rennes, a socialist bastion for more than forty years, the political cursor is now to the left of the left. Sunday evening for the first round of the presidential election, Jean-Luc Mélenchon crushed the competition by arriving well ahead with 36.31% of the vote, one of his highest scores in a big city. The rebellious candidate thus achieves ten points more than in 2017 when he came in second position behind Emmanuel Macron. “We are becoming the first political force locally”, welcomes Jean-Paul Tual, spokesperson for rebellious France in the Rennes metropolis. “Now we have to live up to expectations,” he continues.
For political scientist Romain Pasquier, Jean-Luc Mélenchon took full advantage in Rennes of the collapse of the Socialist Party and the call for a useful vote. “He clearly captured some of the socialist and environmentalist voters”, underlines the director of research at the CNRS. Arrived largely in the lead in the first round in 2017 with 31.86% of the vote, Emmanuel Macron must this time be satisfied with second place with a score down two points (29.47%). Behind these two candidates, it’s a bit of a desert since Yannick Jadot, who came third in the Breton capital, is relegated very far with barely 10% of the vote.
The sinking of the PS in the Breton capital
And what about the Socialist Party which, as at the national level, suffered a historic rout. Despite the support of many local elected officials, including that of Nathalie Appéré, Anne Hidalgo only comes in seventh position in Rennes with only 3.01% of the vote. “The left has failed to unite. She is paying a high price today, ”reacted the mayor of Rennes on Sunday evening, calling in the process to vote for Emmanuel Macron in the second round.
Nathalie Appéré is also already planning for the third round of the presidential election by inviting “the forces of the social and ecological left” to “draw the conclusions from their failure” and “to work hand in hand as we do in Rennes”. “I will do my best in view of the next legislative elections to elect to the National Assembly deputies determined to act for the climate, equality, education, purchasing power, health, democracy”. For Romain Pasquier, if this large gathering is to take place, it will be done “to the detriment of the PS”. “The balance of power is reversed on the left with a real risk of the disappearance of elected socialists,” said the professor at Sciences Po Rennes.
Qualified for the second round of the presidential election, Marine Le Pen did not, without too much surprise, get the full vote in Rennes with only 7.29% of the vote, a score very slightly higher than that of 2017. (6.7%). Like the Socialist Party, Les Républicains also suffered a debacle on Sunday evening. While François Fillon had collected 16.53% of the vote five years ago in Rennes, Valérie Pécresse must this time be satisfied with crumbs with 3.78% of the vote.
Brittany remains loyal to Emmanuel Macron
In the rest of Brittany, voters have on the whole remained loyal to the outgoing president who comes first in the four departments with each time more than 30% of the vote, and even 34.5% in Ille-et-Vilaine. . For second place, voters opted for Jean-Luc Mélenchon in Finistère and Ille-et-Vilaine while Côtes-d’Armor and Morbihan preferred Marine Le Pen.
Leader of the National Rally in the region, Gilles Pennelle also welcomed on Twitter the “very strong progress” of the candidate. “With nearly 20% of the votes, it reaches a score never achieved”, he assures. It is particularly in Central Brittany where Marine Le Pen has performed, sometimes coming first in certain municipalities. “There is really this opposition between metropolitan and rurality in Brittany with votes well marked each time”, concludes Romain Pasquier.
Find all of the results of the first round of the presidential election 2022 by city, department and region on 20 Minutes.