TOULOUSE, France – The prospect of far-left party France Unbowed taking control of Toulouse, France’s fourth-largest city and home to Europe’s most prominent aircraft manufacturers, is putting the industry on edge.
Not only that a victory in the second round of local elections on Sunday could give the leader of the anti-capitalist party, Jean-Luc Mélenchon, a big increase before next year’s presidential election. That’s a concern for the future.
The immediate fear is that if France Unbowed makes history here – the party has never come close to controlling such a large city – it will collect taxes on local icons such as Airbus to pay for a generous manifesto that includes water subsidies, free public transport for residents under 26, and free school meals and educational materials.
“I am worried it will jeopardize the plans of new companies and factories to open in Toulouse, including the future ambitions of Airbus,” said Pierre-Olivier Nau, president of the employers’ lobby MEDEF in the department of Haute-Garonne, which includes Toulouse.
Nau is also concerned that the strong opposition of the left to increase the high-speed rail connection between Bordeaux. and Toulouse, due to the cost of at least €14 billion, love destroying businesses that have been expecting it for a long time. France Unbowed’s mayoral candidate argues that the project will damage the environment and increase taxes in Toulouse by attracting commuters or remote workers from other cities with higher wages.
A strong race
MEDEF and other commercial lobby groups are now struggling to respond, given that France Unbowed was not expected to approach this authority in Toulouse.
His candidate, MP François Piquemal, was voting behind his Socialist Party opponent François Briançon in preparation for the first round of voting last Sunday. The Socialist leadership had vowed not to work with the hard left after a wave of criticism against Mélenchon following accusations of anti-Semitic behavior and his backlash. until the death of a radical right-wing activist.
So Piquemal’s second-place finish and his swift alliance with Briançon to topple the long-time right-wing mayor, Jean-Luc Moudenc, came as a surprise.
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The playoffs are expected to be close. A poll released Thursday it showed Moudenc winning by just two points in the second round, within a margin of error.
Two local employers’ lobbies recently angered the hard-left plans for Toulouse, and a group of 350 famous people in the countryincluding rugby luminaries and business owners, signed an open letter urging citizens to vote against France Unbowed.
“Many business projects have been suspended,” said Nau.
Piquemal says this is scary. The 41-year-old former teacher denied he would raise taxes and downplayed talk among business leaders that Airbus, the region’s biggest employer responsible for more than 200,000 direct and indirect jobs, would cut investment or move equipment if elected. Airbus declined a request for comment.
“The policies of Moudenc, but also the policies of (President Emmanuel) Macron, have worsened the quality of life in Toulouse,” Piquemal told reporters in Toulouse on Thursday.
“We are the ones who support jobs, we support companies,” he added. “We are the ones who defend the owners of small shops against the big corporations.”
A man with a soft voice and a light beard and a warm disposition, Piquemal is typical of the new generation of left activists in France. He is only comfortable discussing toxic masculinity and making videos on TikTok campaigning for tax control or against Israel’s war on Gaza. He was inside the so-called Freedom Flotilla Greta Thunberg and MEP Rima Hassan, delivering aid to Gaza before they were all arrested by Israeli forces.
Piquemal, however, is less understood than his fiery party leader. But he benefits from the success of Mélenchon’s adversarial approach to politics.
France Unbowed is trying to establish itself as the main opposition party ahead of what is expected to be a runoff with the right wing in next year’s presidential election. Most polls show the party of Marine Le Pen and Jordan Bardella, National Rally, is the favorite in the race for the Elysée.
“France Unbowed is the strongest, the best-positioned to build a front against the right,” said Ismael Youssouf-Huard, a French Unbowed activist and candidate for Toulouse city council.
“Mélenchon is a wise choice against the National Assembly,” he said.
The results in the first round of voting have gone some way to justifying Mélenchon’s provocative approach. France Unbowed won the impoverished city of Saint-Denis in the suburbs of Paris outright in the first round and is in the running for the mayor’s job in the industrial city northeast of Roubaix.
The Toulouse election is seen as a major test for Mélenchon ahead of the 2027 presidential election. Can he and his party confirm his leadership position on the left before the presidential election or will many moderate voters, turned off by left-wing extremism, flock to the opposition?
‘Are you ready for Sunday?’
In a market torn apart between a burned-out den of drug dealers and a tower block in the Reynerie neighborhood, Piquemal is trying to get people to vote.
“Are you ready for Sunday?” He asked as he handed out leaflets. “You need to go vote.”
At the Reynerie market, shoppers are happy to see him.
“I’m very happy he did well in the first phase,” said Claude Compas, a retired special education teacher.
But some voters are worried about the left-wing prospect of running the city.
“They say they will provide free public transportation for young people, but nothing is free,” said retiree Abdallah Taberkokt. “Who will pay? We are.”
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Piquemal was generally received warmly – little surprise considering that Reynerie voted for him in the first round of voting.
Still, Piquemal thought there was more excitement than usual in his main constituencies. He said he was using “greater speed” than during the previous local elections six years agowhile Moudenc easily defeated a more moderate candidate supported by the left coalition.
Piquemal’s supporters believe their champion will pave the way for the left, despite the first round of voting revealing deep divisions nationally over domestic cooperation and Mélenchon and hard left.
“These local elections will make history,” said Thibaut Cazal, a councilor candidate alongside Piquemal. “It will show that left-wing families can be reconciled.”
France Unbowed can still be defeated in Toulouse. But even if it does, the party will have proven it cannot be ignored before the big presidential race in 2027.
