Faure has argued that these alliances allowed the party to rebuild and regain parliamentary seats, but his critics say the Socialist brand is vanishing in the shadow of Jean-Luc Mélenchon — the popular but divisive hard-left figure who has performed better than any other left-wing candidate in the past two presidential elections.
In a post on X, Faure promised to continue to root his party “at the heart of the left.”
Mayer-Rossignol, who campaigned against Faure’s strategy and vowed to aggressively take take charge of any future coalition on the left, conceded shortly after the results were made public early Friday morning.
During the last leadership contest in 2023, which also featured Faure and Mayer-Rossignol, both camps disputed the close results for several days.
Alliance-building is sure to remain a central issue for the left. Local elections are scheduled across France next year and the next presidential election will follow in 2027. President Emmanuel Macron will also soon regain the authority to dissolve parliament, though he and his office have shot down reports that he would do so in the coming months.
