With 41.1% of the vote, Jordan Bardella’s score has almost doubled in five years in this land traditionally acquired by the Republican right. The reasons for the RN vote are multiple, between increased precariousness and rejection of immigration.
“It’s crazy, I haven’t slept much and I have a hundred calls on my phone”exclaims Jean-Charles Angevin, project manager for the National Rally in Haute-Loire. “We expected good scores, but not to this extent.” In this department, Jordan Bardella’s party convinced nearly 38% of voters during the European elections, far ahead of the PS (11.7%) and the presidential majority (11.3%). Symbol of this breakthrough of the far right, the town of Yssingeaux, 7,300 inhabitants, voted 41.1% for the RN, twenty points more than in the 2019 European elections and even twelve additional points compared to the 2022 presidential election. This is the strongest progression in France among cities with at least 2,500 votes cast.
Stronghold of the former European Commissioner and figure of Christian democracy Jacques Barrot, the sub-prefecture of Haute-Loire does not, however, resemble an RN stronghold. “It’s amazing and surprising for a center-right city”reacts Isabelle Valentin, the outgoing Republican MP, Tuesday June 12, while walking along the many shops in the renovated city center. “It’s good to live here. We’re not unhappy”also wonders a resident.
In this small town located 45 minutes by car from Saint-Etienne and a quarter of an hour from the first SNCF station, Pierre Liogier, the center-left mayor, sometimes hears his constituents complaining about the decline in public services, such general practitioner not being replaced or the lack of public transport. “But we cannot say that we are landlocked. We are privileged, particularly when it comes to healthcare.”, assures outgoing MP Isabelle Valentin, who lives in the city. The 8,000-hectare commune, almost the size of Paris, has even set up an on-demand shuttle service to transport residents.
How can we therefore explain such a rise in the National Rally? “People mainly voted against Macron”immediately responds Pierre Liogier, sitting in his office at city hall, in front of the electoral results sheet. “There was the ‘yellow vest’ crisis, the pension reform which is starting to have its effects, the anger of the agricultural world… And then above all inflation.”
“When people have paid for gas, electricity and food, there’s not much left for leisure.”
Pierre Liogier, mayor of Yssingeauxat franceinfo
“Our compatriots, obviously, have sent us a simple message: their lives have not improved enough”, conceded Emmanuel Macron during a press conference. The people of Yssingelais tend to talk about feeling of downgrade. “We have difficulty living on our salary, we are being taxed everywhere… It has become difficult to do a lot of shopping”confirms Nathalie, 50, finishing her meal in one of the bakeries in the city center.
Yssingeaux is fortunate to benefit from a rich and diverse associative fabric to help the most vulnerable. “I see an increase in precariousness, including among the elderly”says Gabriel, a volunteer at Secours catholique, in the middle of a mound of furniture recovered left and right. “Everything is increasing and when you have a small pension, it’s complicated. We distribute 120 food packages per month to 260 people. We have a lot of single women with children”also testifies Chantal, a Red Cross volunteer, in the middle of the stock of clothing and food collected by the association.
For many, Sunday’s vote therefore looks more like a gesture of humor than a vote of support. “People are fed up, they say to themselves: ‘We’re going to try something else with the RN’”estimates a 65-year-old retiree, a baguette under his arm, who has claimed to be an abstainer for many years. “It’s a kind of rebellion. People wanted to show their fed up”also observes a hotelier. “I think that this vote expresses national concerns, with anger among the population, an ambient gloom, pressure on our charges”, adds Stéphanie, restaurateur in the center. For the first time, this “granddaughter of Italian immigrants” has decided to vote for Jordan Bardella during the legislative elections on June 30.
“I would like France to regain a certain level, values, a certain grandeur.”
Stéphanie, National Rally voterat franceinfo
As everywhere in France, the RN vote appears to be a catalyst for all discontent, as confirmed by an Ipsos poll. But to explain Jordan Bardella’s 40% in Yssingeaux, it is difficult to ignore the subject of immigration. In the middle of the alleys of the city market which is held on Thursdays, “we hear harsher and harsher speeches” on asylum seekers, assures Stéphanie. Since 2015, the city has had a Reception Center for asylum seekers (Cada), located a few steps from the city center. “We have around forty people and a few unaccompanied minors, but we have no worries”assures the mayor.
In the streets of Yssingeaux, however, there are many who do not accept this new population. “One day, we won’t be at home anymore. We have the impression that they have all the advantages. After a while, we get tired of it”, tenses Nathalie, who voted for the far right for the first time last Sunday. A little further away, sitting on a bench, Christophe and Jean-Paul share the same annoyance. “With immigration, social services are saturated. people who need help can no longer get it”believes Christophe, who voted RN for “stop immigration at European borders”. But he hesitates to return to LR’s side for the legislative elections.
“As much as the neighboring town of Chambon-sur-Lignon is a welcoming land, here, mentalities are different and indeed the Cada is disturbing.”
Isabelle Valentin, outgoing LR MPat franceinfo
“There are some young people [demandeurs d’asile], but we are not really affected by immigration. I think the locals are just spitting out the national news. It’s a fantasy.”tempers Stéphanie, who nevertheless wishes to vote RN. “It’s deep France, the rural world. Those we call the ‘pure juices’ [en référence aux petits monts d’origine volcanique appelés “sucs”]those who were born here and who are afraid of foreigners, of those they do not know”also annoys a former left-wing municipal councilor, who prefers to remain anonymous. “And then, when we watch certain news channels continuously, we realize that there is brain churning… We present things in very anxiety-provoking ways”continues Gabriel, retired from National Education.
Behind the church, a small sign indicates that Paris is 549 km away. A distance which does not frighten Laurent Wauquiez, determined to return to the capital from Haute-Loire. The president of the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region has decided, in agreement with outgoing MP Isabelle Valentin, to run in this constituency for the legislative elections. “At home, we have always favored people with political labels”he hopes during a declaration in front of the city hospital, as if to ward off the 40% of the National Rally. He took the opportunity to reject the “alliances” and the “little combinations”after Eric Ciotti’s call for an alliance between LR and the RN.
Laurent Wauquiez maintains a solid pool of supporters in Yssingeaux, where the far right has no natural candidate. “We will quickly invest someone, it will normally be a ‘parachute’”assures Jean-Charles Angevin. “An election is never a foregone conclusion, but indeed a legislative one in our country is a local vote, and we like to know the candidate”reassures Isabelle Valentin.