LONGUEAU, France – Forget the home advantage. In this economically degraded region of northern France, near where Emmanuel Macron grew up, there is not much love for the local boy who became one of his country’s youngest presidents. On the contrary, many locals described him as a wealthy man who had nothing to do with the daily worries of the “little people”. Some said they planned to vote for his opponent, far-right leader Marin Le Pen, in the final round of the April 24 presidential election. “I do not really like Macron. “He’s the president of a rich man,” said retired Didier Balesdens as he lined up at a market in Longueau on the outskirts of the northern city of Amiens, where Macron spent his childhood. “He lent money to big companies during the pandemic, but he could not have taken some of their profits to help people?” Balesdens, who voted for far-left candidate Jean-Luc Mélenchon in the first round, is not comfortable voting for Le Pen and is worried about the tensions her immigration policies would create if she became president. But his hatred for Macron and his “inability to understand small people” outweigh those concerns and could lead him to vote for Le Pen in the final round. Such contempt for his home underscores broader challenges for Macron. Despite winning Lepen by 5 percentage points in the first round of elections last Sunday, Macron must now convince a much wider electorate – that is, left-wing voters – to support him in the second round. But if Balesdens and others like him are ready to move to the far right, Macron will face a much tougher race against Le Pen than in 2017, not just in his home region but across the country. (POLITICO poll shows Macron will win 53 percent of the vote against Le Pen.)
FRANCE PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS ELECTION VOTING
For more poll data from all over Europe, visit the POLITICO Poll of Polls. Aware of the challenge, Macron rushed to soften his image in view of the final round. He dropped his proposal to lower his retirement age to 65 and offered to re-employ unvaccinated nurses who had been suspended during the COVID-19 pandemic. But Balesdens and others like him are not convinced by last minute changes. Hostility to Macron was widespread this week among locals who spoke at POLITICO in Longueau, a short distance from where Macron grew up in Somme’s apartment. “He has not left good memories here,” said Longueau Mayor and left-wing independent Pascal Ourdouillé, recalling Macron’s failed attempt to keep a local Whirlpool factory open. Even though the Macron government boasts that it has reduced unemployment to its lowest point since 2008, it is local job losses that have made headlines here. The closure of the linen factory during Macron’s term became a symbol of his struggle to maintain industrial jobs in France. During the 2017 presidential campaign, both Le Pen and Macron met with Whirlpool workers and promised to try to keep the factory open if elected. “He came here, he made a show, he made promises and he did not keep them,” said Ourdouillé, who recalls that in 2018, the factory closed despite many efforts to save it.
National Rally Raids
Others in Longueau said that despite their frustration, they would keep their noses up and support Macron in the second round. “I do not like either of them, but especially Le Pen,” said retired left-wing Jacqueline Mast. “Macron is not sweeping me off my feet. “He makes promises and breaks them, but their extreme right and hatred of foreigners – no thanks.” Mast echoes leftists such as Paris’s Socialist mayor Anne Indalgo and the Greens’ Yannick Jado, who are urging voters to vote for Macron to keep the far right out of power after being eliminated from the race in the first round. In 2017, Macron took advantage of the so-called “Republican Front” against the far right, in which left-wing voters, who hate to see a far-right candidate come to power, vote for the other camp despite their reservations. But this time things are not so simple. The Le Pen National Rally party is invading low-income cities such as Longo. Ten years ago, this former railroad passenger city voted overwhelmingly in favor of the Socialist Party. In the first round of voting on Sunday, 27% supported Le Pen against 23% for Macron. Many here say that Le Pen’s strategy to detoxify the National Rally helps her. Not only has it abandoned its unpopular commitments to leave the EU and reduce its anti-immigrant rhetoric, but it has pursued a more down-to-earth agenda, campaigning for bread and promising to cut taxes on staple food and fuel in the midst of a rush. “[Her proposals] has an echo here. “Rail workers do not have high wages and have been severely inflated,” said Joël Brunet, a retired teacher and communist. In the last presidential election, 60 percent of Longo voters voted for Macron in the second round of voting against Le Pen, although only 23 percent voted for him in the first round. Brunet believes it is unlikely that Macron will benefit from the same support this time around. “I do not think it will be overthrown in favor of Le Pen, but it will be much stricter,” he said. “It starts to get confusing that every time we have to vote for a candidate we do not approve just to keep the far right out of power,” he said. Back in the mayor’s office, Ourdouillé feels confident that the national balance will fall in Macron’s favor in the second round on April 24. “I am not worried at all. “He will beat her 52 to 48,” he said. Some would prefer more chances.
