First major defeat for the New People’s Ecological and Social Union (Nupes). In Ariège, the dissident of the Socialist Party (PS), Martine Froger, won, in the second round of the partial legislative of the 2e constituency, the “rebellious” candidate labeled Nupes, Bénédicte Taurine. With 60.19% of the vote, against 39.81% for her rival, Martine Froger, who had finished in fourth place in the previous legislative elections, offers a major victory to the socialist opponents of Nupes, in the forefront of which the mayor from Rouen, Nicolas Mayer-Rossignol, number two of the PS, Anne Hidalgo and the president of the Occitanie region, Carole Delga.
The Ariégeoise also benefited from the support of the mayor of Vaulx-en-Velin (Rhône), Hélène Geoffroy, behind whom are placed the supporters of François Hollande, and figures outside the PS, such as Guillaume Lacroix, the president of the Party radical left (PRG), or the former prime minister, Bernard Cazeneuve, who had made the trip to Foix before the first round came to defend his candidacy. “We mobilized more than during the last legislative elections. There was also a national momentum., testifies Martine Froger. Emmanuel Macron’s party, Renaissance, also called for a vote for her, inviting “Republican and Democratic Forces” to choose it “faced with the project of division and insurrection” of La France insoumise (LFI).
The defeat of Bénédicte Taurine, elected for the first time in 2017, is a major snub for the first secretary of the PS, Olivier Faure, who had called to vote for her, recalling that this constituency was part of the Nupes agreement signed in 2022. Pressed by his Nupes partners who asked the PS for a clear position on this partial legislative, he even had support for Bénédicte Taurine revoked during a national office on March 11. In vain. This vote could not prevent Carole Delga and local socialist activists from campaigning for the dissident, suspended from her party since May 2022. Opposite, LFI also spared no effort. Jean-Luc Mélenchon and François Ruffin also went to Ariège to defend the colors of their candidate.