France emerges from months of coronavirus lockdown to vote on Sunday in a delayed second round of municipal elections, with opinion polls suggesting a dire outcome for President Emmanuel Macron, whose party could fail to win in any big city, reports Reuters.
A year ago Macron had hoped the local elections would help anchor his young party in towns and cities across France, including Paris, ahead of an anticipated 2022 re-election bid. But more recently, presidential aides have been playing down expectations.
In the capital, the election’s biggest prize, the sitting socialist mayor Anne Hidalgo is on track for a comfortable win after a shambolic campaign by Macron and his La République en Marche (LaRem) party.
Meanwhile, the Greens are projected to do well in cities such as Lyon, Marseille and Bordeaux, sometimes in alliance with the Left, building on momentum they created in 2019’s European elections. In Perpignan, Marine Le Pen’s far-right party may take control of its first city with a population over 100,000.