A man strolled alone in the summer sunshine, microphone in hand, in the Provinces district of the northern French town of Abbeville. A van, topped by a huge red balloon, kept pace with him, brandishing the slogan Avec François Ruffin ("With Francois Ruffin") written in large letters, as well as the name Picardie Debout, that of Ruffin's small party. On Sunday, June 23, seven days before the first round of France's snap legislative elections are held on June 30, Ruffin, the outgoing MP for the 1st constituency of the Somme, first elected in 2017, was back on the campaign trail. In an immaculate white shirt, he strolled through the working-class neighborhood, calling out to residents. "Bonjour, the Provinces, this is your MP François Ruffin. I'd like you to send me back to the Assemblée to continue to carry your voice and make sure that there's not just [something] for the big [players] at the top, but also for the little ones," he proclaimed.
His voice echoed through the concrete-lined alleys. A few heads popped out of the windows of these low-income housing units. Tax justice, investment in hospitals, schools and housing, increases to minimum welfare benefits and pensions: Ruffin laid out his social program. "I'm sure you're the ones holding the country together," he continued, addressing those struggling to make ends meet.
Usually, he would spend six months campaigning in the 82 municipalities of his constituency, a left-wing stronghold that the Rassemblement National (RN, far-right) party dreams of wresting from him. He now has just three weeks to convince voters. In 2022, he had beaten his RN rival, Nathalie Ribeiro-Billet, in the second round of the election, with 61% of the vote. At the time, she had obtained "40% without leaving her house." Over the past two years, the far right has continued to surge, scoring 44% in France's June 9 European election in the constituency (compared with 31.4% nationally). The left, meanwhile, garnered just 26% of the vote. "We're facing headwinds, in a place like this," admitted Ruffin, a native of the nearby city of Amiens.
In the Somme, Ruffin is campaigning under his own name –Jean-Luc Mélenchon, the founder of La France Insoumise (LFI, radical left), is an unattractive ally. His campaign material only mentions the Nouveau Front Populaire (NFP), the new alliance of French left-wing parties, in very small print. Magali (who didn't want to give her surname) had gone door-to-door the week before: "The problem that comes up isn't [RN president Jordan] Bardella, it's Mélenchon," she said.
You have 66.23% of this article left to read. The rest is for subscribers only.