Manuel Bompard, national coordinator of La France insoumise, delivers an address broadcast on BFM-TV in Paris on March 15, 2026. LUCAS BARIOULET FOR LE MONDE
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clear reality emerged for France's Socialists on the evening of Sunday, March 15, after the first round of the municipal elections. With the presidential election just a year away, if the party wants to emerge stronger from the ballot, or even to just hold on to some of its strongholds, it will need La France Insoumise (LFI, radical left). In several major cities, LFI either took the lead or scored high enough to make the left's victory in the second round on Sunday, March 22, contingent on its support. On X, Jean-Luc Mélenchon, the leader of LFI, celebrated what he called a "magnificent breakthrough." At the party's headquarters in Paris, LFI coordinator Manuel Bompard noted a "remarkable surge for LFI," with scores that "doubled," "tripled," or even "quadrupled" compared to 2020, when the party had not invested in the municipal elections.
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