Marine Le Pen, Edouard Philippe, Jean-Luc Mélenchon and Noël Mamère are all candidates for the European election on June 9… and have no chance of being elected. Their presence, however, is not anecdotal.
Political “stars” find themselves at the bottom of the lists for the European elections (Sunday June 9). Marine Le Pen is thus a candidate in 81e and last position for the National Rally (RN). The same goes for the communists with their leader, Fabien Roussel. For its part, La France insoumise listed the name of its founder, Jean-Luc Mélenchon, in 80th place. The presidential majority called on two former Prime Ministers (Elisabeth Borne and Edouard Philippe) at the very end of the list, while the Ecologists called on a trio of former presidential candidates (Noël Mamère, Eva Joly and Yannick Jadot) to close theirs.
These political heavyweights may well be in an ineligible position, but their presence is not anecdotal. It has very concrete consequences in the voting booth. “A ballot cannot contain the name, photo or representation of a person who is not a candidate”, recalls Romain Rambaud, specialist in electoral law and professor at Grenoble Alpes University. This rule results from a modification of the electoral code, adopted in December 2019 and entered into force in 2020, aimed at avoiding misleading voters and disturbing the sincerity of the vote. Such a constraint notably guided the RN’s choice to invest Marine Le Pen, like in 2019. “There is first a very practical and technical side, it is to be able to put your photo on the voting slipe”, explains Gaëtan Dussausaye, spokesperson for the party and candidate in 29th position.
“On electoral propaganda, the last name on the list is more easily seen, as well as the first obviously”, underlines for his part Thibault Leclerc, member of the presidential camp campaign team. This is why he chose to place Elisabeth Borne at “the place of honor”.
At the RN, this choice also makes it possible to serve the strategy aimed at highlighting the Bardella-Le Pen duo. “We are betting a lot on this winning ticket, continues Gaëtan Dussaussaye. By printing the photos of the two heavyweights of the party on the ballot, the RN hopes “install this refrain: Marine at the Elysée, Jordan at Matignon, to already prepare the duo for the 2027 presidential election”.
On the side of ecologists, these places are also loaded with meaning. If he “do not know” whatever position he finds himself in (number 78), Noël Mamère accepted without hesitation the request of the head of the list Marie Toussaint.
“My presence has a symbolic value: I show my support for my political family, I am in the transmission.”
Noël Mamère, candidate for the European elections in an ineligible positionat franceinfo
He rubs shoulders with two other former presidential candidates, as well as the national secretary of the Ecologists, Marine Tondelier, and senator Mélanie Vogel. “People often say that environmentalists are divided, bad idea!” smiles the former mayor of Bègles, who thus puts his notoriety at the service of an eco-list struggling in the polls. “At a meeting, I was spontaneously told about my presence on the list, this is proof that it is useless”he observes.
The parties also wish to hammer home certain ideas. The Macronists communicated on “symbolic presence” of Jean Veil, son of Simone Veil, in 74th position, to put forward their campaign proposal to include abortion in the European Charter of Fundamental Rights. Jean Veil was already on the presidential list in 2019, again in a symbolic way. At Reconquête, if the penultimate place goes to the founder of the party, Eric Zemmour, the last is entrusted to Evelyne Reybert, the mother of a victim of the attack in Romans-sur-Isère (Drôme), on April 4 2020, with a view to amplifying the discourse on what the party describes as “francocides”.
The presence of well-known political figures above all allows parties to boost the reputation, sometimes weak, of their head of list. Two months after being chosen to lead the list of the presidential coalition, Valérie Hayer remains unknown to the general public: one in two French people do not know her, according to an OpinionWay-VAE Solis survey for The echoes and Classical Radio. While the MEP is struggling to catch up with the poll favorite, Jordan Bardella, the majority revealed on May 6 a casting “VIP”a new feature compared to 2019: in addition to Elisabeth Borne and Edouard Philippe, François Bayrou and Stéphane Séjourné, bosses of MoDem and Renaissance, are present.
“If Valérie Hayer pulls the list, Elisabeth Borne will push her with her political weight and her commitment to the field”, wants to believe Thibault Leclerc. The objective is also to appear as a “reunited family”, after long negotiations between allies regarding eligible places. By being named on the list, these heavyweights also have a vocation “to get involved in this campaign”we continue at the party, echoing the calls for mobilization launched by Emmanuel Macron or Gabriel Attal.
The camp of Jean-Luc Mélenchon, which was already in penultimate place on the list and pictured on the bulletin in 2019, goes in the same direction. His presence must “push and give strength to this list because the issue posed by this June 9 election, in reality, is the post-Macron era which must take shape”declared the head of the list Manon Aubry on TF1 in mid-March. “Helply, there is this idea that they are not head of the list in their own right. It’s archaic”we tackle in the socialist campaign team.
“Sometimes, it looks like being placed under guardianship: whether we are talking about Manon Aubry or Valérie Hayer, our adversaries act as if they needed a male tutelary figure.”
The PS-Place publique campaign teamat franceinfo
The PS-Place publique list led by Raphaël Glucksmann is an exception, like that of the Republicans. Their list ends with a string of local elected officials, little known to the general public. “We have chosen complementaritydefends socialist campaign director Eric Andrieu. Uhead of the list with a strong incarnation and running mates who master European matters and are all anchored in the territories. It remains to be seen whether this will be enough to maintain its momentum and try to get ahead of the list of the presidential majority on June 9.