During the legislative elections in June 2022, the Seine-Maritime had a peculiarity: among the 10 districts there was not a single deputy from the National Rally (RN), in contrast to the neighboring department of Eure, where Marine Le Pen’s party almost succeeded in winning the elections. Grand Slam, reporting 4 constituencies out of 5. Five Sejnomarin constituencies elected a representative of the presidential majority, while the remaining five chose a candidate from the parties that today make up the New Popular Front (NPF): three communists, one rebel and a socialist.
What will happen next July 7th? Guillaume Pennel, secretary of the RN department, immediately assures that “if we do not make progress, it will be a disappointment.” And progress means the presence of deputies. “He has two constituencies in his sights where, during the last legislative elections, representatives of the RN followed the two deputies of the presidential majority, Marie-Agnès Poussier-Winsbeck and Xavier Batut, behind by several hundred votes. This is the ninth and tenth.
“If we look at the results of the European [respectivement 42,85 % et 43,64 % pour la liste de Jordan Bardella, NDLR], we must be able to defeat them,” continues Guillaume Pennel, himself a candidate for the fourth constituency (Elbeuf agglomeration), with slightly less ambition: “Now, if there is a wave in our party, anything is possible. . »
And even if Reconquest manages to nominate candidates in 9 of the 10 constituencies, Eric Zemmour’s party will not be able to eclipse RN. “We know that in the second round their votes will largely fall on our candidates,” assures the department secretary RN, who also knew that no agreement with his colleague from the Republicans (LR) Jonas Haddad could be envisaged. “There was no hesitation in the Seine-Maritime,” the latter confirms. “We are implementing republican law with the support of the region and the department. And we are not close to Macron or PH, but we are tied to our values.” He will meet with voters in the 2nd District, hoping to do more than just even out the numbers.
As for the troops loyal to Emmanuel Macron, everyone who leaves returns there. Fear is almost everywhere, even if Agnès Firmin-Le Baudot of the Horizons party in the seventh constituency and Annie Vidal in the second have good hopes of remaining in areas where the left is struggling and where the PH remains weak.
Mayor of Rouen, his deputy
The same could be said in the first case, mainly in Rouen, but for Damien Adam, elected by a few dozen votes in 2022 from the candidate Nupes Maxim da Silva, the opposition on the left will be raised. Because if the mayor of Rouen and president of Metropolis, the socialist Nicolas Mayer Rossignol, did not appear at the Palais-Bourbon, he decided to intervene by becoming the deputy of Florence Hérouin-Lothe, her business assistant at the school in Rouen. And putting all his weight into ensuring that it is the socialist who goes into battle.
“This is a historical moment that obliges us. We must rise to the occasion and take responsibility to prevent the far right from coming to power,” continues to repeat the mayor of Rouen, who decided to put aside his disgust with the party during Jean-Luc’s election campaign. Mélenchon, who forced him to oppose Nupes in 2022.
On the left, everyone is hoping that the good result of Raphael Glucksmann’s list, which came first in the European elections (with 20.79% of departmental votes), is a sign of a declared victory. No certainty. Moreover, on the part of EELV, they are disappointed by the lack of chances to get a deputy seat – they hoped to at least appear in second place and only won tenth, where the chances of electing the NFP are invalid – this is noticeable. “We will play this game and do everything to resist RN. We will postpone these discussions until later,” postpones Stéphane Marteau, Regional Secretary of EELV. “But in a department like Seine-Maritime, where the presence of nuclear power will be even more important, where we know Lubrizol and where there are many Seveso sites, the absence of a green elected official is an aberration. »
No dissidents, but vague estimates
The same goes for other outgoing left-wing MPs, some of whom had dissident PS candidates in 2022. This was the case for Insoumise Alma Dufour, who beat Elbeuf mayor Jude Merabet by 200 votes in the fourth district and won the second round over RN. Will the “New Popular Front” tag this time give more impetus to counter the PH dynamics? That’s the whole question.
The three elected communists – Edouard Benard in third, Sebastien Jumel in sixth and Jean-Paul Lecoq in eighth – on the contrary, leave with an advantage in historically advantageous territories for them. Only the first of them has yet to make a name for himself, since during his mandate he succeeded Hubert Wulfrank, a figure well known to the voters in his district. “But when we say they are indestructible, we forget to look at the numbers. On the Dieppe side, Jordan Bardella achieved results never before achieved for our party. [44,92 %, dans la sixième circonscription, NDLR]. This could be a good surprise,” hopes Guillaume Pennel.
Finally, Gérard Leseulle, the only Socialist defending his seat, hopes that his territorial attachment to the fifth constituency and the united left behind him will allow him to continue his activities in the Assembly, even if here he will undoubtedly face Jean -Cyrille Montier (RN), who has already tried his luck in 2022.
Source: Le Parisien
I have worked in the news industry for over 12 years. I have a vast amount of experience in different areas of the industry, including politics. I am currently a political news writer for 24 News Recorder. I have also written a book about politics. In my free time, I enjoy spending time with my family and friends, as well as traveling.
