housing and health pillars of the campaign of the 8th district of Finistère

The 8th of Finistère which brings together Concarneau, Quimperlé, Rosporden, Bannalec or Scaër is the one who voted the least for Emmanuel Macron in Finistère and the most for Marine Le Pen, in the second round of the presidential (62.9% for the outgoing president, 37.1% for the defeated candidate).

A concentrate of Brittany: dynamism and fractures

Traditionally on the left for decades (it was one of the only ones not to have switched to the right in 1993), it passed into the hands of the majority in 2017 with the Modem Erwan Balanant. But this time, the left is advancing united and hopes to make a comeback. The territory is a concentrate of Brittany: dynamic, touristic and crossed by territorial and social fractures. The food industry also occupies a preponderant place.

This constituency has almost a third of workers, according to the latest INSEE figures, this is 9 points more than at the national level. Here, the car represents 90% of daily journeys (20 points more than the average).

Housing and health: two major issues

There is the coast, which is touristy and rather affluent, and the inland which has a feeling of downgrading. Didier’s story is emblematic. Cook at the Concarneau hospital, he lived in the city a few years ago. He had to leave his accommodation for Riec-sur-Bélon then Scaër, “because it was too expensive“. In Scaër, there are only two doctors and he has to go as far as Moëlan-sur-Mer to have his tooth treated: “We suffer, we suffer, we shut up“he loose, disappointed, depressed. He voted for Marine Le Pen for the presidency (she came out on top in the first round in the city)”to give him a chance“. The majority candidate will find it difficult to convince him. With thegasoline increasethe Scaër-Concarneau journeys are becoming more and more expensive and at 58, he does not want to hear about the retirement at 65 : “I won’t last“.

We suffer, we suffer

Another edifying testimony, with Chantal, 61 years old. In front of the Concarneau hospital, the home helper accompanies a patient. Sitting on a sunny bench, the sexagenarian smiles but withdraws as soon as the legislative elections are mentioned, and in particular the problem of lodging : “It became a disaster. The rents are very expensive and you have to leave in June to return in September. A lot of people have to go camping in the summer.” His daughter is looking for a rental. With two jobs, in a hotel and a campground, she could afford “and yet she can’t find“. She also understands that the protest vote has increased in the constituency. For the first time, Marine Le Pen exceeded the 20% mark in the whole of the territory in the 1st round of the presidential election.

Housing is the problem that obsesses Claire Paingault, the Breton Party candidate. She gave us an appointment at Cabellou in front of the site of the former summer camp. We are in the process of building F2 housing there at €240,000 each: “No young local who works at the tide or in the food industry can afford that“. She pleads for limit secondary residences, excluding estates, and the weight of Airbnb.

Three blocks for a seat

In the 8th constituency of Finistère, three political sides emerge and clash: the National Rally, the outgoing majority and the left bloc.

If a victory for Marine Le Pen’s party in the constituency would be a huge surprise, RN candidate Chistrian Perez is counting on the vote of small rural municipalities. Marine Le Pen came out on top in four of them, including Scaër, in the first round of the presidential election: “These are towns that were originally red towns. Former communist voters have moved to the National Rally because they see their fabric disappearing. The problem of transport, housing, health with the Concarneau hospital which is dying“. We meet him at the foot of the church of Scaër, he makes a point of specifying: “There is only one mass every eight weeks here“Symbolic according to him. He does not forget to attack his main competitors, Erwan Balanant, outgoing deputy”who dealt with school bullying and gender equality but not fishermen and farmers“and the left which promises the minimum wage at €1,500,”might as well shoot business leaders directly in the head“.

5 years ago, we were talking about unemployment, now we are talking about the problem of recruitment

Another atmosphere on the tourist market of Pont-Aven. Erwan Balanant, the Ensemble candidate of the presidential majority and his supporters settled there to tow and discuss with voters. Many are not from the area. Tourists on the go. A discussion begins with Laurence. Leg broken by a deer that crossed in front of her bike, she wants to clarify: “I didn’t pay anything at the hospital, I won’t pay anything for the physiotherapist, the same for the pharmacy, people don’t realize how lucky we are“. We detect a rather macronist fiber even if it “regret that we do not pay more caregivers “. Erwan Balanant, for his part, highlights the “envelopes promised for the hospitals of Quimperlé and Concarneau“, files that he wants to impose at the national level.

The outgoing deputy will be able to rely on the very good scores of Emmanuel Macron in the 1st round of the presidential election in the major cities of the constituency: more than 34% in Concarneau, more than 28% in Quimperlé and Rosporden. He sees the fruits of the seeds planted over the past five years: “Five years ago in the markets, people were talking about unemployment. This is no longer a subject today. On the contrary, we meet business leaders who are unable to hire. The French saw clearly during the health crisis that the policy that was carried out was not a right-wing policy but a Keynesian policy to revive the economy.“. For him, retirement at 64 or 65 is not a right-wing markerbut a “common sense“. And he takes the opportunity to tackle the NUPES candidate: “People who start working at 25, with 40 annuities, that’s 65 years, you shouldn’t talk nonsense“. Tribute to pixie dust?

The left wants revenge

The situation has changed. Five years ago, there were 14 candidates in the constituency, there are only 9 today.

NUPES won the gamble of imposing a single candidacy around a rebellious candidate: Youenn Le Flao. He is a postman, trade unionist, was active in Attac and even if some would have preferred a socialist, he avoided dissidence: “It is a historic agreement at the national level, the local variation must be done in the union, it is obvious. We are not here to divide but to bring well-being to people“. It obviously sells the promise of a radical change in policy: the rise in the minimum wagethe taxation of the ultra-richthe price freeze first need. This friend of François Ruffin attacks Emmanuel Macron’s record on unemployment, “we made people disappear from the statistics” and health, “people are leaving hospitals because they can’t take it anymore, you mustn’t get sick this summer, it’s going to be very complicated“. He welcomes the support of François Ruffin, Gérard Filoche or the Concarnois Kofi Yamgnane.

The right in figuration?

And then, we should not forget the right, even if it starts from very far away. The LR candidate is called Claire Gourlaouen. This Concarnoise in her thirties, history-geography teacher in a professional high school, returned to live in the region last fall after a long stay in Paris. She is lucid about her chances: “It is a territory very anchored on the left but I did not want to present myself elsewhere and it allows me to express myself on the subjects that are dear to me.“. She wants to make her voice heard on the work value“these poor workers who can no longer live” Where education, pointing”a school that is no longer capable of ensuring social advancement“.

She will also have to deal with the candidate Debout la France, Manon Cuciniello. The National Rally will have to avoid the dispersion of votes with the Reconquest candidate Pierre Couëdello.

The last two candidates running in this constituency are Laurent Dran for the Animalist Party and Anne Morel for Workers’ Struggle.