Former French prime minister Michel Barnier has sailed through the first round of a high-profile by-election in Paris, emerging as the clear frontrunner to retake a long-time conservative stronghold.
Standing for the centre-right Les Républicains (LR), Michel Barnier claimed more than 45 percent of the vote on Sunday in the capital’s second constituency – a seat traditionally considered safe for the right.
He will face Socialist candidate Frédérique Bredin in next weekend’s run-off.
Turnout, however, has been exceptionally low, with almost three in four voters staying away from the ballot box, with abstention close to 75 percent.
Barnier himself admitted it reflected “worry, frustration and fatigue” with France’s national political climate.
The result puts the 74-year-old, who briefly held the premiership last year before being toppled by a budgetary censure motion, on course to become Les Républicains' only MP in Paris.
Since 2022, the capital’s 18 parliamentary seats have been split between President Emmanuel Macron’s centrists and the left.
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Duel between left and right
Bredin – a former minister under socialist president François Mitterrand – secured about 32 percent of the vote.
She was the sole left-wing standard-bearer in a crowded field of 17 candidates.
The far-right National Rally's Thierry Mariani trailed far behind in third place.
Barnier sought to frame the choice ahead as a straightforward duel: “On the one hand, our united candidacy of the right and centre; on the other, the left’s candidate, backed by Jean-Luc Mélenchon and France Unbowed,” he told supporters.
Bredin hit back, calling Barnier’s performance “a historic failure for the right, with less than 50 percent in this constituency”, which spans Paris’ upmarket 5th, 6th and 7th district on the Left Bank – long considered bastions of conservatism.
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'Shotgun' by-election
The by-election was triggered in July when Macronist deputy Jean Laussucq’s victory was annulled by the Constitutional Council over irregularities in his campaign accounts.
The tight campaign calendar frustrated Bredin, who unsuccessfully demanded a postponement, calling the timetable “scandalously short”.
Barnier’s path to the ballot was not without turbulence, as his candidacy was initially threatened by Rachida Dati – outgoing culture minister and combative mayor of the 7th district – who suspected Barnier of eyeing the office of Paris mayor.
Dati pulled out only at the last minute, after securing LR’s official nomination for next year’s municipal elections.
Barnier's 'Paris credentials'
Though know internationally as the EU's chief negotiator during Brexit, Barnier is best known in France for representing Savoie for decades – as MP, senator and local council chief.
Throughout his campaign, the former prime minister has been shoring up his Paris credentials, saying he has lived in the constituency for the past 12 years.
Eyebrows were raised, however, when it emerged he had to cast his ballot by proxy, as he is not registered on Paris’s electoral rolls.
Next Sunday’s duel now promises a symbolic showdown, with Barnier bidding to replant Les Républicain's flag in the capital, while Bredin hopes to pull off an upset for the left in one of Paris’s most traditionally conservative constituencies.
