François Ruffin is a candidate for the legislative elections under the banner of the New Popular Front. Will the outgoing deputy for the 1st constituency of the Somme manage to break a new mandate? What are his chances of being re-elected in this election?
Will François Ruffin manage to regain his seat in the National Assembly? After the dissolution by the President of the Republic, the outgoing deputy in the first constituency of the Somme goes back into the campaign to take the temperature with the French under the banner of the New Popular Front. He even assured France Blue Picardy be ready to become Prime Minister: “If ever there is a consensus that leads to a name, I am ready to take the place we want to transform people’s lives.” The one who is part of Picardy Debout! also seems tempted by the post of Minister of Sports: “If ever in the history of our country, whatever position I can occupy, if it is at Matignon as Prime Minister, why not. But if it is as Minister of Sports and that I manage to make sport for everyone, for all the children of our country, I will be proud of it,” he added.
More popular than Mélenchon?
He also considered that Jean-Luc Mélenchon, also mentioned to be potentially designated Prime Minister, was “right to step back” during the legislative campaign because his name arouses “concern” among voters. For his part, the rebellious leader believes in an interview with Figaro on June 20 that “François Ruffin chose to break with him, and not the other way around”. The former MP, like the movement’s leadership, had also been accused by François Ruffin of having “purged” historical figures of the party such as Alexis Corbière, Raquel Garrido or Danielle Simonnet. He then defended himself: “Where is the ‘purge’ that is attributed to me? But I do not deserve his hurtful vindictiveness. Not sure that it serves his ambitions”.
According to the Elabe barometer for The echoes, published on Thursday June 13, François Ruffin is the third favorite left-wing political figure of the French after Raphaël Glucksmann and François Hollande. He garners a 24% positive image compared to 36% negative, surpassing Jean-Luc Mélenchon, with 16% positive compared to 70% negative.
What result for François Ruffin in the legislative elections?
His first objective is above all to be re-elected in his constituency, which goes from Abbeville to Amiens. “I am returning to the campaign,” he announced in a press release on June 12. On the RN side, he will face regional councilor Nathalie Ribeiro-Billet, as in 2022. Albane Branlant will represent the presidential majority, Bruno Dumont the centrist Alliance party and Jean-Patrick Baudry Lutte Ouvrière.
On the set of France 3 Picardy, during a debate with his opponents, François Ruffin detailed his program if he was re-elected. He is particularly in favor of indexing salaries to inflation: if prices increase by a certain percentage, salaries increase by the same amount. He also wants to act for the consolidation of jobs: “the big problem today is that we have transformed professions into “parts of jobs”, that is to say we have decreased by five points the share of permanent contracts in employment. Why? because there has been an explosion of self-employed people, but jobs must provide status and income,” he argued. He also wants to redirect public aid for businesses towards “VSE/SMEs and towards industry”. He also says he is unfavorable to selective immigration targeted at certain sectors, but not to the idea of a border.
In 2022, François Ruffin, attached to NUPES at that time, was easily re-elected with more than 61% of the votes during the second round against the RN candidate, Nathalie Ribeiro-Billet. He had made 40.09% in the first round. This result represented an improvement compared to 2017, where the MP received 55.97% of the votes in the second round and only 24.32% in the first round. If he can therefore be seen as a contender for victory in the next election, the political context has changed significantly in two years. The RN, in fact, came in first with 41% in Abbeville and 24.80% in Amiens during the European elections on June 9 and continues to progress.
Furthermore, according to national polls, the RN remains at the top of voting intentions for the early legislative elections, with a score above the 30% mark. THE IFOP survey for LCI, Sud Radio and Le Figaro as of June 20 credits it, for example, with 34% compared to 29% for the left coalition and 22% for the presidential majority. These estimates remain national, and do not give the local political balance of power. However, they highlight a duel which could prove to be close between the dominant political forces.