The French municipal elections of 2008 were held on 9 and 16 March to elect the municipal councils of France's 36,782 communes. The first task of each newly constituted municipal council was to elect a mayor.
Municipal councilors, and the mayors they elect, ordinarily serve a term of six years. However those who took office following the last municipal elections, held on 11 and 18 March 2001, had their terms extended to seven years by an Act of the French parliament designed to avoid an overloading of the electoral calendar in 2007.
Results.
The left gained back grounds lost in 2001 and in previous elections and sent a message of warning to President Nicolas Sarkozy, in power since 2007. The PS gained cities like Toulouse, Strasbourg, Amiens, Saint-Étienne and Reims. The left also held on easily to most of its cities, including Paris and Lyon. The close election in Marseille, however, was won by the UMP incumbent. The right did poorly but held on to some of its cities like Bordeaux, Le Havre, Nice, Toulon or Aix-en-Provence. Among right-wing gains were the cities of Chaumont, Le-Puy-en-Velay, and Calais (ending 37 years of Communist control).
François Bayrou's centrist MoDem did poorly, although MoDem incumbents generally won. However, Bayrou himself was defeated (by the PS) in his hometown of Pau. Between the two rounds the MoDem followed three strategies- maintain its list in the runoffs, if qualified; ally with the right (as in Toulouse); or ally with the left (as in Marseille).
The far-right FN did extremely poorly, winning only 0.93% nationwide and qualifying for the runoff in only 7 cities with 30,000+ population (40 in 2001, 105 in 1995).
The Greens regained grounds lost in 2007, the most notable Green gain was by Dominique Voynet in Montreuil. However, the Green vote was halved in Paris over 2001.
The PCF held most of its ground in its Seine-Saint-Denis strongholds (despite most incumbents facing Socialist candidates) but also in other PCF cities (Nanterre, Arles). It gained Dieppe and Vierzon while losing Calais (to UMP) and Aubervilliers (to PS).
Important races.
Paris.
The popular Socialist incumbent Bertrand Delanoë was very easily re-elected. Françoise de Panafieu represented the centre-right UMP as the right tried, in vain, to regain the capital. Among high-profile candidates on her lists is the Justice Minister Rachida Dati, UMP elected in the 7th arrondissement of Paris.
Bordeaux.
In Bordeaux, the incumbent Mayor and former Prime Minister Alain Juppé, defeated in the 2007 parliamentary election, stood for re-election. The Socialist candidate was Aquitaine President Alain Rousset. The centrist MoDem, led by François Bayrou, announced its support for Juppé. Juppé was re-elected by the first round with over 56% of votes cast, even improving over 2001.
Notes and references.
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