French leader Insumissa has managed to unite the left and renew it

At the age of 70 and after a long and prosperous political career, Jean-Luc Mlenchon, the leader of the French Insoumise, has become the phenomenon of this French electoral spring. In the presidential election held last April, she was one point behind right-wing Marine Le Pen and was about to go through to the second round. I would have done this if the Left presented itself in the elections in unison. He did not do so then, but he did in these legislative elections in which the coalition led by Mlenchan, Knupes, put Emmanuel Macron’s coalition on the ropes by being tied in number of votes. These are the keys that explain their progress.

Left

In recent years, following Macron’s victory in 2017, which ended socialist François Hollande’s mandate, breaking left, The sample is a face-off for the Samajwadi Party, when it barely managed to reach 2% of the votes.

With his social and anti-capitalist discourse, Mlenchon traditionally involving itself with part of the left wing vote But that he no longer felt represented by any of the existing parties. This electoral spring, with the first presidential election and subsequent legislative elections, has confirmed a complete breakdown of the traditional party plan that began with the victory of Macron’s party La Repubblica en Marcha in 2017.

protest vote

There is one protest vote that Mlenchon has managed to mobilize, that is Large part of France not happy with Emmanuel Macron’s politicswhom they accuse of being arrogant and running away from the problems of reality. In France, politicians are trained at the ENA (National School of Administration), which means that many citizens do not feel represented by a political class they consider to be elitist.

Mlenchon is an exception, defending the interests of that “working class France” and reviving the discourse of class struggle. He knows how to connect when he speaks, passé, “he’s one of those candidates who has more cultural baggage. It shows at rallies,” says Jérme Fourquet from Ifop in the pages of Les Echos.

the result of the protest vote is also Crisis that submits FranceNot just a pandemic. He had a yellow vest shortly after Macron was elected (a rebellion lauded by Mlanchen himself), and now also suffers from the inflationary economic context in which the French have lost purchasing power.

Youth

majority of voters De Malenchon is young, educated and hardworking. Teachers, health workers… citizens with moderate socioeconomic status but who believe they can get better. Macron, on the other hand, is supported by an old and wealthy man.

He leads the vote in cities such as Paris, Toulouse, Lille or Marseille and more Deprived areas on the outskirts of Paris have the highest turnoutThe so-called sanctions, with a majority population of immigrant origin, who feel isolated and who believe that the leaders of the France Insaumes are the only ones who have proposed reforms for them.

He has been able to engage in his program issues that pertain to young people: economy, ecology, education… He has promised to increase vacancies for teachers and also in hospitals. Like Le Pen, he believes that European treaties take away part of France’s sovereignty.