https://feeds.thelocal.com/ Read the latest news and views from France in English en-us news@thelocal.com (TheLocal) webmaster@thelocal.com (TheLocal) TheLocal RSS Feed The results are in for the first round of voting in local elections and - as expected - there are some close races in the big cities, meaning that it all comes down to second-round alliances. Here's how these work. https://www.thelocal.fr/20260309/explained-the-crucial-election-alliances-that-shape-french-elections Mon, 09 Mar 2026 16:42:27 +0100 explained-the-crucial-election-alliances-that-shape-french-elections As France prepares for key local elections, John Lichfield looks at what the results can tell us about the strength of the 'republican front', the pact that voters can make to keep out the far right. https://www.thelocal.fr/20260311/opinion-local-elections-will-show-if-france-still-has-the-will-to-resist-the-far-right Wed, 11 Mar 2026 09:52:31 +0100 opinion-local-elections-will-show-if-france-still-has-the-will-to-resist-the-far-right Two frontrunners have emerged in the race for Paris' new mayor - Anne Hidalgo’s former deputy mayor Emmanuel Grégoire and Rachida Dati - a leading right-wing figure. Here's Dati's vision for the French capital. https://www.thelocal.fr/20260309/paris-mayor-right-wing-candidates-programme-for-a-more-secure-city Mon, 09 Mar 2026 11:28:11 +0100 paris-mayor-right-wing-candidates-programme-for-a-more-secure-city A foreign disinformation campaign has targeted two candidates in France's local elections this weekend, a government agency and a security source said Tuesday. https://www.thelocal.fr/20260310/france-suspects-foreign-interference-in-key-mayoral-races Tue, 10 Mar 2026 15:41:58 +0100 france-suspects-foreign-interference-in-key-mayoral-races France heads to the polls on Sunday, March 15th for the first round of the 2026 municipal elections - here are a few key words and phrases you will need to know. https://www.thelocal.fr/20210615/granny-hugging-to-crowd-bathing-the-essential-vocab-to-understand-french-politics Tue, 15 Jun 2021 11:58:19 +0200 granny-hugging-to-crowd-bathing-the-essential-vocab-to-understand-french-politics The race is hotting up for next year's local elections, which the parties are fighting with one eye on the presidential poll in 2027. But John Lichfield warns against trying to read too much into the votes for local mayors in 2026. https://www.thelocal.fr/20251126/opinion-the-french-far-right-will-do-badly-in-local-elections-it-doesnt-mean-they-cant-win-in-2027 Wed, 26 Nov 2025 09:59:07 +0100 opinion-the-french-far-right-will-do-badly-in-local-elections-it-doesnt-mean-they-cant-win-in-2027 French far-right leader Marine Le Pen insisted her party could still win control of parliament despite the centre and left scrambling to block her way and football hero Kylian Mbappé urging fans to outvote ‘those people’. https://www.thelocal.fr/20240705/french-far-right-says-power-within-grasp-as-mbappe-warns-of-disaster Fri, 05 Jul 2024 10:50:02 +0200 french-far-right-says-power-within-grasp-as-mbappe-warns-of-disaster A Greens politician who cut her teeth in a far-right fiefdom has emerged as a leading voice against anti-immigration forces in the final stretch of France’s snap parliamentary election. https://www.thelocal.fr/20240705/frances-greens-leader-takes-to-front-line-against-far-right Fri, 05 Jul 2024 10:35:56 +0200 frances-greens-leader-takes-to-front-line-against-far-right With projections for a deadlocked parliament after the second round of voting and widespread predictions of political chaos, many French commentators are starting to make comparisons with France's Fourth Republic - for those of us who didn't grow up in France, here's what that means. https://www.thelocal.fr/20240702/explained-what-was-frances-fourth-republic-and-why-its-in-the-news-again Tue, 02 Jul 2024 14:06:37 +0200 explained-what-was-frances-fourth-republic-and-why-its-in-the-news-again Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo has said that the prospect of France's far-right winning power in parliamentary elections at the end of the month was causing doubt and worry in the run-up to the Olympics in the French capital. https://www.thelocal.fr/20240619/french-politics-are-clouding-olympics-says-paris-mayor Wed, 19 Jun 2024 18:24:34 +0200 french-politics-are-clouding-olympics-says-paris-mayor French President Emmanuel Macron on Wednesday faced accusations of transphobia after lashing out at the snap election manifesto of a new left-wing coalition, in particular a proposal allowing citizens to change their gender at the town hall. https://www.thelocal.fr/20240619/macron-accused-of-transphobia-after-lashing-out-at-french-left Wed, 19 Jun 2024 13:06:56 +0200 macron-accused-of-transphobia-after-lashing-out-at-french-left The leader of France’s traditional right-wing party triggered a crisis within his own party and fury from the government after backing an alliance with the far-right of Marine Le Pen in snap legislative elections. https://www.thelocal.fr/20240612/french-far-right-teams-up-with-conservative-party-leader-for-snap-polls Wed, 12 Jun 2024 11:35:22 +0200 french-far-right-teams-up-with-conservative-party-leader-for-snap-polls Emmanuel Macron's prime minister will begin work on Monday trying to secure a coalition after his party lost its majority in the French parliamentary elections. https://www.thelocal.fr/20220619/breaking-macron-projected-to-lose-majority-in-parliament Sun, 19 Jun 2022 22:08:21 +0200 breaking-macron-projected-to-lose-majority-in-parliament It's still more than six months away, but France's next presidential election is already the source of fevered speculation, so here's a quick guide to how it will work and what happens next. https://www.thelocal.fr/20210407/five-minutes-to-understand-frances-2022-presidential-election Wed, 07 Apr 2021 14:02:34 +0200 five-minutes-to-understand-frances-2022-presidential-election It's been promised before, but now the UK government says it will act to ensure that British citizens living abroad do not lose their right to vote in the UK even if they have been abroad for over 15 years. Here's what we know about the proposals. https://www.thelocal.fr/20210527/what-does-the-uk-governments-pledge-of-votes-for-life-mean-for-brits-living-abroad Thu, 27 May 2021 18:59:05 +0200 what-does-the-uk-governments-pledge-of-votes-for-life-mean-for-brits-living-abroad There are two golden rules of contemporary, national politics in France, writes John Lichfield on the 2022 presidential election. Incumbents never win. Strongly fancied, early contenders commonly crash and burn. https://www.thelocal.fr/20210407/analysis-frances-2022-presidential-election-in-6-candidates-and-4-questions Wed, 07 Apr 2021 14:17:37 +0200 analysis-frances-2022-presidential-election-in-6-candidates-and-4-questions The outcome of the presidential vote will have little impact on US-Europe trade relations, France's finance chief asserted on Wednesday, saying Washington is unlikely to drop its confrontational stance whether Donald Trump wins or not. https://www.thelocal.fr/20201104/french-minister-usa-unlikely-to-be-a-friendly-partner-whoever-wins-election Wed, 04 Nov 2020 12:18:26 +0100 french-minister-usa-unlikely-to-be-a-friendly-partner-whoever-wins-election British-born Penelope Kathryn Fillon, the extremely publicity-averse wife of one-time presidential favourite François Fillon, was at the centre of a huge political scandal in France, dubbed "PenelopeGate". Here's what you need to know about her. https://www.thelocal.fr/20170329/could-a-welsh-woman-be-frances-next-first-lady Wed, 29 Mar 2017 10:35:10 +0200 could-a-welsh-woman-be-frances-next-first-lady Boris Johnson's resounding victory means nothing will stop Brexit now, writes columnist John Lichfield. But it's still the biggest blunder the UK has ever made and will leave the hundreds of thousands of Brits across Europe feeling like foreigners on February 1st. https://www.thelocal.fr/20191213/opinion-nothing-can-stop-brexit-now Fri, 13 Dec 2019 12:40:22 +0100 opinion-nothing-can-stop-brexit-now Britons in France expressed anger and dismay on Friday after the UK election result dashed their remaining hopes that Brexit could somehow be avoided. But they were urged to look at the positive aspect of Boris Johnson's resounding win. https://www.thelocal.fr/20191213/brexit-brits-in-france-urged-to-look-at-positive-side-of-devastating-uk-election-result Fri, 13 Dec 2019 12:39:56 +0100 brexit-brits-in-france-urged-to-look-at-positive-side-of-devastating-uk-election-result