The outgoing president of Hauts-de-France, Xavier Bertrand. – S. Alcalay / SIPA
- By reaching between 39 and 43% of the vote according to initial estimates, Xavier Bertrand’s list came out largely in the lead in the first round of regional elections in Hauts-de-France.
- The second round will oppose the list of Bertrand in a triangular to the RN of Sébastien Chenu, far from his expectations with between 22 and 24%, and the united left of Karima Delli (between 16.5 and 18%).
- Big underperformance of the LREM list. Despite the presence of five ministers, the presidential majority does not reach the 10% mark (between 7 and 9%) and therefore cannot participate in the second round.
Sad record. With nearly 67% abstention in Hauts-de-France, the first round of regional elections was clearly deserted by voters. Only a third of people deigned to go to the polls when the others preferred not to come.
If the list of Xavier Bertrand (DVD) comes very far ahead of those of the RN and the united left that he will face in a triangular in the second round, if the LREM list and its five ministers do not even reach 10% , it is above all a democratic catastrophe that we will remember from this first round.
Xavier Bertrand much higher than expected
He had made his victory in the regional elections an essential condition for his candidacy for the presidential election of 2022. Xavier Bertrand can be reassured. By gathering between 39% and 43% of the vote according to the first estimates Sunday evening, the outgoing president of the region is doing much better than what the polls predicted him. This very important score now places him as a big favorite for his re-election.
“I took my responsibilities by making the RN my one and only opponent. As of Monday, I will submit the same list, with the same ambition and the same project, to fight for you. I am convinced that once again we will make a bulwark against the RN ”declared the candidate on Sunday evening. By far ahead of a historically strong RN in the region, a united left and five ministers gathered on an LREM list, Bertrand folded from the start a complicated match. What to give him wings before starting the second round and to confidently consider his next presidential campaign.
The RN and the left very far from their expectations
Almost 20 points away from Xavier Bertrand. No poll had placed the RN so far from the incumbent president. By reaching only between 22.5% and 24.4% of the votes cast, Sébastien Chenu did much less well than Marine Le Pen, who came first in 2015 with 40% of the votes. In a region that has been favorable to him for years, the RN clearly marks time in this regional election.
Behind him, the list of the united left of Karima Delli will not have worked miracles. Despite the unique union in France of ecologists, rebels, socialists and communists, the left (between 16 and 18%) does as much as the only PS (18%) in 2015. The only notable difference: unlike 2015, the left will participate in the triangular of the second round and will therefore find elected representatives to the regional council.
The big slap for LREM
With five ministers on the same list, LREM had released the heavy artillery to compete with Xavier Bertrand, outgoing president and competitor of Emmanuel Macron for the next presidential election. Alas, by not crossing the 10% mark (given between 7.3% and 9.1%), the list of the presidential majority will not even be able to play the kingmakers in the second round. As a disavowal, Laurent Pietraszewski, the head of the LREM list, called on his voters to vote for Xavier Bertrand in the second round.
Find the results of the first round of regional elections in Île-de-France on Sunday, June 20 from 8 p.m. on 20minutes.fr