He put everything back together. By pronouncing the dissolution of the National Assembly, Emmanuel Macron has put a real kick in the French political scene. Since the results of the European elections and the president’s surprise announcement, the political parties have continued to negotiate, to argue, to divide and sometimes to console each other.
The day after the last day for submitting applications, 20 minutes offers you a tour of France of the notable candidates in the legislative elections of June 30 and July 7. With a bunch of former ministers that we had sometimes forgotten.
Heavy in Hauts-de-France
It will undoubtedly be the most observed region in France. In Hauts-de-France, we find a bunch of well-known names among the candidates for the Assembly, even if Adrien Quatennens is no longer part of it. First of all, the Minister of the Interior, Gérald Darmanin, who will try to keep his seat in the 10th circo (Tourcoing). But also the boss of the PCF Fabien Roussel in Valenciennes. Another member of the government to try her luck, Agnès Pannier-Runacher in Pas-de-Calais, a department which once again welcomes Marine Le Pen (RN) as a candidate to succeed her in Hénin-Beaumont.
In the Somme, the personality to follow will be François Ruffin who is returning to Amiens. Also note in the department, the candidacy of Léon Deffontaines, recent head of the PCF list in the European election and that of Jean-Philippe Tanguy (RN). Among the outgoing deputies who left their mark on the mandate, Sébastien Chenu (RN) returns to the North (Denain), just like David Guiraud (LFI) to Roubaix.
Cahuzac returns to New Aquitaine
He was already preparing his return to politics on his lands in Lot-et-Garonne even before the announcement of the surprise dissolution. François Hollande’s former budget minister Jérôme Cahuzac, convicted in 2018 for tax fraud, is a candidate in the third constituency of Lot-et-Garonne. He will not have a Renaissance candidate facing him. But not because his profile appeals to the presidential camp. The Macronists will support LR Guillaume Lepers.
In the Landes, we will monitor the score of the former Minister for Disabled People Geneviève Darrieussecq (Modem) who hopes for her re-election. Boris Vallaud will be a candidate for the left in the neighboring constituency. In Gironde, Renaissance Minister of Public Accounts Thomas Cazenave will be a candidate for re-election in Bordeaux.
Île-de-France is stacking up applications
The constituencies are numerous and the territories undecided. In Ile-de-France, we cannot miss the candidacy of Prime Minister Gabriel Attal in the 10th constituency of Hauts-de-Seine. We can also follow the 7th district of Paris, where the first deputy mayor Emmanuel Grégoire is running against the former Minister of Transport Clément Beaune.
A potential preview of the 2026 municipal elections? We can add that Élisabeth Borne’s former Minister of Health Aurélien Rousseau will represent the New Popular Front in Yvelines.
Expected renewal in Brittany
This is not where you will find the most high-sounding names. Supported by the Macronist cause in 2017 and 2022, Brittany represents a colossal challenge for the presidential party. Secretary of State for the Sea, Hervé Berville will try to keep his seat in Côtes-d’Armor. In the neighboring constituency, the historic right-wing deputy Marc Le Fur is not running for health reasons. He hands over to his son Corentin, who already works in the National Assembly.
We can also cite Florent de Kersauson. The navigator’s brother was invested by the RN in Morbihan but also suffers from health problems, who prevented him from attending his trial for breach of trust, forgery and use of forgery. Finally, in Ille-et-Vilaine, we can note the surprising presence of Marie Mesmeur, parachuted from Finistère to take the place of outgoing LFI deputy Frédéric Mathieu. The young woman is the companion of Louis Boyard.
Another Le Pen in Pays-de-la-Loire
It overshadows everything. Marie-Caroline Le Pen, sisters of Marine, announced on Sunday that she was a National Rally candidate for the legislative elections in the fourth constituency of Sarthe. The eldest of Jean-Marie Le Pen’s three daughters, aged 64, is running in the former constituency of François Fillon. His daughter, Nolwenn Olivier, is the ex-partner of Jordan Bardella. In the 5th constituency of Loire-Atlantique, we will follow the result of the outgoing MP Modem Sarah El Hairy, Minister Delegate in charge of Children, Youth and Families, who is a candidate to succeed her.
Sandrine Josso, outgoing Renaissance deputy for the 7th of Loire-Atlantique, who revealed in November to have been drugged without her knowledge by Senator Modem Joël Guerriau, is a candidate. In Cholet (Maine-et-Loire), the divisive mayor LR Gilles Bourdouleix, now supported by the RN, is also in the running.
A record holder and figures in the Grand-Est
In Alsace, the little surprise came from Fabienne Keller. The former mayor of Strasbourg (2001-2008), MEP, is running as a substitute. Perhaps to give weight to Etienne Loos, the little-known candidate of the presidential camp in the 1st constituency of Bas-Rhin. Former Minister for Integration (2020-2022) Brigitte Klinkert is seeking a new mandate in Haut-Rhin. Like Olivier Becht, who also had ministerial functions until last January.
Still in Haut-Rhin, the ecologist Antoine Waechter is heading back into the campaign, thirty-six years after trying his luck in the 1988 presidential election. In Lorraine, the spokesperson for the National Rally and outgoing deputy, Laurent Jacobelli, is running in the 8th constituency of Moselle. In the Marne, the candidacy of Charles de Courson is also noteworthy. The elected Libertés et Territoires (LIOT), who has the support of the Republicans, is seeking a… eighth term in a row!
Élisabeth Borne finds her Normandy
She has fallen back into a certain anonymity since the end of her mandate as Prime Minister. But Élisabeth Borne intends to keep her seat as deputy for the 6th constituency of Calvados, which the RN covets with appetite. Rémi Debard, substitute for LR candidate Nathalie Porte, withdrew on Sunday, calling for support from outgoing deputy Jérémie Patrier-Leitus (Horizons) in Calvados. A way, according to him, to block the RN.
In Caen, it was the brand new MEP Emma Fourreau, elected on June 9, who was invested by the Popular Front. In the 7th constituency of Seine-Maritime, formerly held by Edouard Philippe, former minister Agnès Firmin-Le Bodo is candidate for re-election under the colors of Horizons.
In Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, the Wauquiez case is intriguing
In this region, it is the candidacy of the president of the regional council which attracts attention: Laurent Wauquiez, who left his mandate as deputy for Haute-Loire in 2016, returns to the fight in the name of LR. His constituency is traditionally a right-wing stronghold. In the 2nd of Allier, former Macronist MP Laurence Vanceunebrock returns to a sector that fell into the hands of the RN in 2022.
In the 2nd of Ardèche, Olivier Dussopt, the outgoing Renaissance, gives way to a fight between his former substitutes: Michèle Victory, from when Dussopt was still a socialist, and Laurent Heydel, his substitute for two years. In the 2nd of Ain, the spokesperson for the RN, Andréa Kotarac, taken in the war of rebellious France a few years ago, will try to get elected against the outgoing Macronist. In the 5th of Ain, Damien Abad, former LR who joined the Macronists, is a candidate again despite his indictment for attempted rape.
Dominique Voynet tries the Doubs
Former Minister of Ecology under Lionel Jospin, Dominique Voynet is the candidate of the New Popular Front in the 2nd constituency of Doubs. In Haute-Saône, it is the candidate Emeric Salmon who will defend his seat.
In 2022, this Breton was parachuted by Marine Le Pen to win the second constituency. And he had done it. The department voted 46% for Jordan Bardella’s list for the last European elections.
Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur, and not just Marseille baby
From the left, from the right, from the extreme right. In the PACA region, no two areas are alike. We could for example see the left triumph in Marseille, where the heavyweight of La France insoumise Manuel Bompard is a candidate. The risk is great for the presidential party, which held several constituencies in the Marseille city.
In the Alpes-Maritimes, it is more the right and the extreme right who are advancing with confidence in this department won over to their cause. We will particularly monitor the future of Éric Ciotti, boss of the LR criticized for having advocated union with the RN and who could be weakened by the suspicions of embezzlement of which he is the subject in Nice. Among the profiles that stand out, we can also cite the candidacy of the former world kayak champion Quentin Bonnetain, who will wear the colors of the presidential majority in Ardèche.
In Occitania, the Poutou case is causing
He was elected in Bordeaux, but the New Popular Front chose to parachute him into the first constituency of Aude. The leader of the NPA Philippe Poutou will find Aurélien Turchetto, of the Radical Left Party, on his way. The vice-president of the Carcassonne urban community sees the arrival of a candidate with controversial positions on Hamas as a “humiliation”, in lands hard hit by the Islamist attacks in Trèbes and Carcassonne.
Dominique Faure, the Minister for Local Authorities and Rural Affairs, is putting her parliamentary mandate back into play, under the label of the presidential majority, in the 10th constituency of Haute-Garonne. The latter is particularly well stocked with candidates. In addition to the well-established socialist Jacques Oberti (NFP), the minister faces the RN, LR but another from Reconquête!.
Will Corsica keep Colombani?
And finally, he is the favorite, the outgoing deputy Paul-André Colombani is a candidate for his succession in Corsica-du-Sud. Demanding, like many others, more autonomy for his island, he said he was “clearly opposed” to the values of the National Rally, which will have candidates in each of the four constituencies of Corsica.