PARIS: French voters will cast ballots for mayors in major cities including Paris on Sunday, in a second-round municipal vote that will gauge the political mood a year ahead of key presidential elections.

In most of the country’s 35,000 communes, candidates were elected last week in the first round. But in larger districts, set for a second round, the election is expected to give an indication of voter leanings ahead of the 2027 polls, when the far-right National Rally (RN) party sees its best chance at seizing power as President Emmanuel Macron steps down.

A win for Hittler?

In the village of Arcis-sur-Aube around 150 kilometres east of Paris, a man called Charles Hittler is in the lead for mayor, with a certain Antoine Renault-Zielinski in third place.

The race is looking tight in the French capital, a densely populated city of two million that attracts millions of tourists every year. Socialist candidate Emmanuel Gregoire, a 48-year-old former deputy of the outgoing mayor, came first on Sunday with 37.98 percent.

Runner-up Rachida Dati, a right-wing former culture minister aged 60, is hoping to win in the capital after 25 years under leftist leadership. She scored just 25.46pc in the first round, but is hoping that a centre-right candidate joining her list will boost her chances. After a far-right contender stepped out of the race, RN party president Jordan Bardella backed Dati.

The far right

Macron called snap polls in 2024 intending to stem advances by the far right, but instead lost his majority, with the RN becoming the largest party in the lower house of parliament.

Now the anti-immigration party is trying to establish itself further locally, including before town councillors later this year vote for members of the Senate. According to the party, it and its allies have been re-elected in 10 communes.

It has kept the southern city of Perpignan of 120,000 inhabitants — the largest in France to be run by the far-right party. It was victorious for the first time in 14 more districts, it has said, and could still win in other areas, especially in the south of the country. But only victories in cities will signify real progress.

Its candidate is leading far ahead in Toulon, a southern city of 180,000 residents. If captured, it would be the largest under RN control to date. It is also leading in Nimes, a city of 150,000, but only by a very small margin.

The left

In recent elections, leftist and centrist parties have allied in the second round to prevent a far-right win. But the left has been fractured since the fatal beating last month of a far-right activist blamed on the hard left, and accusations against its leader of antisemitic remarks.

Gregoire has ruled out any alliance with the hard-left France Unbowed (LFI) in Paris, and Payan rejected one in Marseille. But other leftists joined lists with LFI rivals, as in the western cities of Nantes and Brest.

In the southern city of Toulouse, the fourth-largest in the country with more than 500,000 residents, a left-wing candidate has joined forces with the LFI runner-up to challenge a frontrunner from the right.

Published in Dawn, March 19th, 2026