Three years after his heavy defeat in the municipal elections in Barcelona, Manuel Valls suffered a new political setback. The former Prime Minister François Hollande failed to qualify in the second round of the legislative election for the 5th constituency of French people living abroad, which includes Spain, Portugal, Andorra, and Monaco, on Sunday 5 June. Stéphane Vojetta, the dissident candidate, who had lost the LREM nomination to the benefit of the former Prime Minister, rose to the second round (with 25.39% of the vote) against the Nupes candidate Renaud Le Berre (27.24 %). Manuel Valls only comes in the third position, with just over 15% of the vote.
1-I take note of the results on the 5th circo of the FDE. First of all, I want to thank the voters who trusted me, also salute the commitment of my deputy @thierry_burt1, our good score in Portugal owes him a lot. Thank you also to all my campaign team.
” I take note of the results (…) If dissent and division have sown confusion, I cannot ignore my score and the fact that my candidacy did not convince “, he said on Twitter, even before the official results were published by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. “ It is up to me lucidly to draw the consequences. Life is good enough to quietly turn the pages,” added Manuel Valls.
Before calling to block in the second round the candidate of Nupes, Renaud Le Berre, who came first according to his training, in this fifth constituency of French people living abroad, which includes Spain, Portugal, Monaco, and Andorra and has about 120,000 registered voters.
The announcement on May 5 of the investiture of the former prime minister had the effect of a bomb in this constituency, especially among the French residing in Spain. Stéphane Vojetta, outgoing deputy wearing the colors of La République en Marche (LREM), had decided to stand up to this ” parachuting ” while promising, if elected, to remain ” a loyal support ” of Emmanuel Macron.
Indicating on his Twitter account that he had qualified for the second round, he called on the presidential majority on Sunday evening to ” unite behind (his) candidacy “. ” But it must also take note of the message sent by the voters: a requirement for less verticality, more listening to the field, and a real renewal of our practices and our political personnel “, he said. added.
For these legislative elections, Manuel Valls thought he could rally voters thanks to his CV and his network. “ My only candidacy has put the spotlight on French people living abroad,” he explained in an interview with AFP in Madrid. ” I want the French to benefit from my experience and my influence, (…) from my strong voice “, he insisted.
His failure marks a new setback for this former heavyweight of the socialist party who had left French political life four years ago to try in vain in 2019 to conquer the town hall of Barcelona, his hometown. Convinced of being able to ” win ” these municipal elections, after his failure in 2017 in the socialist primaries for the French presidential election, he only came fourth with around 13% of the vote behind the Catalan independence candidate and the outgoing left-wing mayor Ada Colau who been renewed.
In a relationship with Susana Gallardo, rich heiress of a Catalan pharmaceutical company, Manuel Valls had finally left the Barcelona city council in 2021 to return to France as a columnist in RMC and BFMTV programs. This new failure of the former prime minister was particularly mocked by the Nupes.
“ It’s what we call a good Sunday evening to start the last week of the campaign in France! “, tweeted Manon Aubry, MEP for France Insoumise while Adrien Quatennens, number two of Jean-Luc Mélenchon’s party published a photo of Jean-Luc Mélenchon and other LFI parliamentarians holding up “ Good riddance ” signs.