how the four lists on the left approach competition between them

The landscape on the left is clarified for the European elections of June 9: Raphaël Glucksmann is officially the head of the PS list, Manon Aubry for the Insoumis, while Marie Toussaint is nominated for the ecologists and Léon Deffontaines for the communists.

Officially, no one on the left will have an enemy on the left during this campaign for the European elections. Ecologist Marie Toussaint says she wants “let everyone get the best possible score”. Same thing for the communist Léon Deffontaines, he wishes the left to have “more deputies than in 2019”. Both use the same argument: more left-wing MEPs will mean fewer deputies for the far right and for Emmanuel Macron’s list.

Manon Aubry also assures that she does not want to weaken the left, even if the rebellious candidate still considers that the best non-aggression pact would have been a common Nupes list. The candidates display lots of good intentions but in reality, the fight has already started and everyone wants to come to the front of the left.

Theoretical non-aggression pact

For the moment, it is the PS list which has a small head start. Raphaël Glucksmann is close to 10% in the polls but he is far from killing the match. Marie Toussaint and Manon Aubry are in ambush. In the PS, some people dream of reaching 15-16% but for that, we have to plunder our little comrades: “We must dry up the Greens and take LFI voters tired of Mélenchon”theorizes a socialist framework.

On the other hand, there is no question of letting it happen: environmentalists accuse Raphaël Glucksmann of being nothing more than a “umpteenth revival of social democracy”. At the PC too, Léon Deffontaines hits on the PS candidate, the incarnation of “the dollar left which accommodates liberalism”. And Manon Aubry recalls that the groups where socialists and ecologists sit in the European Parliament vote on free trade treaties. Clearly, non-aggression between these left-wing lists is very theoretical.

Everyone has their own chapel and their electorate

The four lists are obviously aimed at the left, but each has specific electoral targets. The Socialist Party wants “catching those disappointed with macronism”, explains an elected official. Marie Toussaint wants to broaden her base by supporting causes other than ecology, for example with a petition to include abortion in the charter of European fundamental rights. Manon Aubry wants to attract young people, working-class neighborhoods and those who still believe in Nupes to the polls. Finally, Léon Deffontaines would like to recover “voters who vote RN out of anger”.

Four competing but complementary lists in short. PS, PC and ecologists are convinced: in the end, there will be more seats than a Nupes list… to the great dismay of LFI who wanted the union to compete with the RN and the macronie.