Marseille Mayor Benoît Payan, at his campaign headquarters, on March 21, 2026. FRANCE KEYSER/MYOP FOR LE MONDE
Marseille has "stayed united," said its mayor, Benoît Payan, with some emotion, on Sunday, March 22, after he was comfortably re-elected as head of his left-wing coalition candidate list, which excluded the radical left-wing La France Insoumise (LFI) party. Payan came out ahead of far-right Rassemblement National (RN) party candidate Franck Allisio. As the incumbent mayor, Payan had long stated that he would refuse any alliance with LFI, which withdrew from the race between the two electoral rounds.
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A few days ago, you said that this municipal battle against the far right was "the greatest fight of my life."
Yes, this is the culmination of a great battle. It was tough on every front, including having to deal with fake news. I heard all sorts of things from my opponents, including claims that I was planning to demolish Notre-Dame-de-la-Garde [a catholic basilica] to build a mosque in its place. I had to disconnect from social media. I've only kept an Instagram account.
