Socialist Party leader Olivier Faure and Boris Vallaud, head of the Socialist group in the Assemblée Nationale, at the Elysée on October 10, 2025. JULIEN MUGUET
The prospect of a left-wing presidential primary is now even more unlikely. Boris Vallaud, the head of the Socialist group in the Assemblée Nationale and an ally of party leader Olivier Faure since the 2025 congress, broke with the Parti Socialiste's leadership on Friday, May 8, taking with him roughly a third of national officials.
The news came in a letter signed by Senator Alexandre Ouizille, a member of Vallaud's faction, condemning what it called a "strategy of isolation and deadlock" by Faure, prompting Vallaud to "regretfully leave the leadership."
Vallaud, who came third in the party's 2025 congress with 18% of the activist vote, had until now helped secure Faure with a working majority within party bodies. For MP Laurent Baumel, a close ally of the party leader, the announcement was above all symbolic. "No Socialist actually thought Boris was still in the majority. The B [Boris Vallaud] and C [Nicolas Mayer-Rossignol] factions have joined forces against the primary," he said. "Boris is hardening his tone to make his opposition clear. But the truth is, he hasn't put any solutions on the table."
