Considered for several years as a “dead star”, threatened with extinction, the PS is regaining its colour following Sunday’s vote.
“It is the role of the New Popular Front, and at its heart, of our family – the socialist family – to rebuild a collective project for our country.” When Olivier Faure, number one of the PS, spoke on Sunday July 7th after the second round of the legislative elections, he praised the collective work in the surprise first place obtained by the New Popular Front (NFP). But he especially underlined the weight, within the left bloc, of a formation regularly qualified “dead star” since 2015.
The second component of the NFP the day after the second round with 64 seats in the new hemicycle, against 71 for La France Insoumise, the PS could still see its numbers grow with the rallies of various elected representatives from the left during the official constitution of the political groups.
The First Secretary of the PS insisted on Monday morning on the important place that the socialists must occupy within the alliance, while choosing unifying words. “Everyone had their place and their role in this New Popular Front. From Jean-Luc Mélenchon to François Hollande, everyone has their place in the discussion”declared Olivier Faure on franceinfo.
“We must ask ourselves the question of how do we govern? continued the PS boss. Who is best placed to do it? How can we be able to calm this country? To repair the fractures that deeply divide it? And so there are profiles that stand out more than others.”without giving a name.
On Monday evening, on TF1’s “8pm” show, Olivier Faure stuck to the same line.
In front of the “brutalization” of the public debate, according to the expression used by the leader of Place publique Raphaël Glucksmann, the PS has clearly chosen the path of appeasement. “We understood, after the European elections, that there was an electorate that wanted to preserve a left that was a little less radical than that represented by La France Insoumise”notes Olivier Rouquan, political scientist and associate researcher at the Center for Studies and Research in Administrative and Political Sciences (Cersa) to franceinfo.
“There is still a social-democratic electorate in France that is neither social liberalism nor left-wing radicalism.”
Olivier Rouquan, political scientistto franceinfo
During these legislative elections, the PS was also able to capitalize on its territorial presence, which had already allowed it to retain more than 60 senators during the last senatorial elections in September 2023, 23 departmental presidencies and four regional presidencies.
As La France Insoumise continues to establish itself “very slowly”with “a very urban vote, very concentrated, particularly in so-called working-class areas”, The socialist vote is more spread out across the territory, points out the political scientist. Overall, the PS is recognized as a “credible manager”which is still sometimes lacking at LFI, according to Olivier Rouquan.
If the PS is starting to be heard again, it is also because it has managed to keep quiet about the major differences that have shaken the party in recent months. Carole Delga, the president of the Occitanie region, and Nicolas Mayer-Rossignol, Olivier Faure’s rival to take the leadership of the party, are no longer in open conflict with the current first secretary. “It does not appear today that Olivier Faure’s leadership is being directly contested”summarizes Olivier Rouquan. Nicolas Mayer-Rossignol also appeared on Sunday evening on the platform alongside the many PS executives supervising Olivier Faure.
Philippe Aldrin, professor of political science at Sciences Po Aix, however puts the dynamics of the training and its score into perspective. If the PS makes strong progress between 2022 and 2024, by doubling its number of deputies (from 31 to 64), the party only occupies 10-12% of the 577 seats in the hemicycle, the researcher underlines.
For this political scientist, who worked for a long time on the PS, the party “is driven by coalition logic”. This is how he has “benefited from the transfer of votes”and a “anti-RN barrier”. Furthermore, according to him, the PS “is no longer a party of government” because “He is no longer able to win in his own name, to invest candidates in all constituencies, to have his own programmatic offer”.
“The PS is back, but within a coalition of which it is not the leader.”
Philippe Aldrin, political scientistto franceinfo
Philippe Aldrin believes that “The PS could constitute a centre of gravity or a possible interlocutor for a broader coalition beyond the New Popular Front”. In this case, it would be “in a good position to refocus on the political game”However, he still tempers, it would not be a grandiose return, worthy of his great hours.
One thing is certain, however: the PS will be able to count on a significant influx of money because, as franceinfo explained, public funding of parties depends mainly on legislative elections. A deputy brings in 37,000 euros to a political party and each vote in the first round, around 1.61 euros. By doubling its workforce at the Palais-Bourbon, the party will double its budget. Enough to at least give it a “breathing” financial, underlines Olivier Rouquan.