Socialist Emmanuel Grégoire Wins Paris Mayoral Election in Landslide Victory

Emmanuel Grégoire of the Socialist Party won the Paris mayoral election on Sunday, March 22, 2026, defeating right-wing challenger Rachida Dati by a wide margin in the second round of the French municipal elections. According to an Ipsos BVA estimate, Grégoire's united left list — which excluded the far-left La France Insoumise — received 53.1% of the vote, while Dati's list from The Republicans obtained approximately 38%. A third list led by Sophia Chikirou of LFI received around 10 to 12.5% depending on the polling institute. Grégoire, who had served as Anne Hidalgo's first deputy since 2018, succeeds her as mayor of a city the left has governed continuously since 2001. Turnout in Paris reached approximately 57%, according to reporting by il Giornale.

„Paris a décidé de rester fidèle à son histoire.” (Paris has decided to remain faithful to its history.) — Emmanuel Grégoire via ANSA

Paris has been governed by the left since 2001, when Bertrand Delanoë became the city's first left-wing mayor in decades. Anne Hidalgo, who succeeded Delanoë in 2014, served two terms and became the first woman to hold the position. The Socialist Party has built its Parisian dominance on coalitions with Greens and Communists, a model Grégoire replicated in 2026 while deliberately excluding LFI.

Dati concedes, citing "poison of division" in campaign Rachida Dati acknowledged defeat on Sunday evening, saying she had failed to persuade enough voters that change was necessary. Dati had resigned from her post as Minister of Culture to mount her campaign for the Paris mayoralty, a gamble that ultimately did not pay off. In the first round, centrist lists led by Pierre-Yves Bournazel of Horizons-Renaissance and Sarah Knafo of Reconquête had withdrawn, with Bournazel urging his voters to back Dati — a consolidation that proved insufficient against the unified left. Dati complained of what she called "low blows" during the campaign and lamented "the poison of division" among right-wing forces. She nonetheless acknowledged that hundreds of thousands of Parisians had expressed a desire for change that the incoming administration could not ignore. Grégoire, for his part, said his office would always be open to the opposition and paid tribute to Chikirou, whose score he said reflected a deep desire for solidarity among Parisians.

„Je n'ai pas réussi à convaincre suffisamment de personnes que le changement était non seulement possible, mais surtout nécessaire.” (I was not able to convince enough people that change was not only possible, but above all necessary.) — Rachida Dati via ANSA

Emmanuel Grégoire (PS/United Left): 53.1, Rachida Dati (The Republicans): 38, Sophia Chikirou (LFI): 10

Left holds Marseille, Bayrou falls in Pau by 400 votes The Paris result was part of a broader pattern of left-wing incumbents holding major French cities in the second round. In Marseille, Socialist mayor Benoît Payan defeated National Rally candidate Franck Allisio, denying the far-right its first major city government. In Lyon, Green mayor Grégory Doucet was re-elected over Jean-Michel Aulas, the former head of Olympique Lyonnais, with estimates ranging from 51.8% to 54% for Doucet. Former Prime Minister Édouard Philippe was re-elected mayor of Le Havre with nearly 48% of the vote, against 41.17% for Communist candidate Jean-Lecoq and 11.12% for the RN candidate, on a turnout of 53.72%. The most striking individual defeat of the night came in Pau, a city of 80,000 inhabitants, where Socialist Jérôme Marbot — supported by the Socialist Party, Place Publique, the Communist Party, and the Ecologists — claimed victory over François Bayrou, who had served as mayor since 2014. Marbot said he won by approximately 400 votes.

400 (votes) — Marbot's margin of victory over Bayrou in Pau

„Nous avons battu François Bayrou.” (We beat François Bayrou.) — Jérôme Marbot via SudOuest.fr

RN claims thousands of councillors despite losing big cities Marine Le Pen declared an "immense victory" for the National Rally on Sunday night, saying her party had won in "dozens of municipalities" and now held "thousands of municipal councillors" across France. The claim stood in contrast to the party's failure to capture any of the country's major urban centres, including Marseille, Toulon, and Nîmes. The elections also highlighted a strategic divide within the French left: Socialist-led lists that rejected alliances with LFI — as in Paris and Marseille — won, while left-wing coalitions that included LFI suffered notable defeats, including in Clermont-Ferrand, a city governed by the left for 80 years, which fell to The Republicans. LFI's number two, Manuel Bompard, nonetheless hailed what he described as a "breakthrough" for his party, pointing to Chikirou's entry into nine Paris district councils and the Paris city council for the first time in LFI's history. The results reinforced the strategic calculation of Socialist leaders like Grégoire and Payan that excluding LFI was electorally advantageous in competitive urban races. Outgoing Paris mayor Anne Hidalgo, champagne in hand outside city hall, called the result "a great victory" and said she was "very happy."

„Pendant six ans, on nous a dit qu'il était impossible que Mme Dati perde.” (For six years we were told that it was impossible for Ms. Dati to lose.) — Anne Hidalgo via ANSA