In the ocean air of Le Havre (Seine-Maritime), the scent of the municipal elections of March 15 and 22, 2026 nonetheless stays discreet. The marketing campaign won’t begin till the start of the yr. However, the stakes are already clear for the native political inside circle: can Edouard Philippe (Horizons), who is looking into query his mandate that started in 2010, when he succeeded his mentor Antoine Rufenacht (1939-2020), be overwhelmed, despite the fact that he appeared untouchable over the past two elections? Will he be slowed down in his presidential ambition, he who admitted, on December 8, on LCI, {that a} defeat in Le Havre wouldn’t put him “not in a good position to hope to convince the French” ? And may the Océane metropolis, working and fashionable, as soon as once more grow to be the communist bastion that it was on the finish of the twentieth century?e century ?
The left, swept apart in 2014 and largely dominated in 2020, just isn’t boasting, however this time firmly believes in its possibilities. “There is an attrition of power. The election is open and we are able to win”augur Baptiste Bauza, secretary of the Le Havre part of the French Communist Party (PCF). Forgotten the lethal division of 2020 and the dissensions between communists and ecologists which didn’t even permit a merger within the second spherical, and place for the primary time in Le Havre a big union checklist… effectively, not fairly.
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https://www.lemonde.fr/politique/article/2025/12/19/municipales-2026-au-havre-ses-opposants-comptent-sur-l-usure-du-pouvoir-d-edouard-philippe_6658722_823448.html