It was a Green Wave according to The Guardian, France 24, Radio France International, Euronews and other news outlets.
A green wave swept across France last Sunday as the environmentalist party, Europe Écologie Les Verts (EELV), and its allies on the Left won control of several major cities.
They did it by putting aside the differences that split the Greens from the Left in past elections, choosing instead to run on a united Left ticket in many cities.
That was the key to success in Bordeaux, Tours, Besancon and, most likely, Marseille, where there isn’t an official winner yet. Greens candidates who ran on their own EELV ticket also won in Lyon, Strasbourg, Grenoble, and Annecy.
In Paris, Socialist Party Mayor Anne Hidalgo was reelected by a wide margin with the backing of the Greens and others on the Left. Hidalgo chaired the C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group from 2016-2019 promoting the Paris COP21 Climate Agreement’s goals with other mayors around the globe. Her reelection can also be counted as a victory for the Greens.
Women, including Hidalgo, were elected mayor in 10 of France’s 40 biggest cities.
The elections had to be a major disappointment for Emmanuel Macron. His party and its Centrist partners carried only 2 of the 40 biggest cities, Le Havre and Amiens. The defeat comes on the heels of a botched Coronavirus response.
Marine Le Pen’s far-Right extremist party, rebranded as the National Rally, succeeded in only one of the 40 biggest cities, Perpignan.