In Clermont-Ferrand, the shift to the right experienced like an “earthquake”
Let them be “disappointed” or “satisfied”the Clermontois were all surprised by the large victory of Julien Bony (LR) over the mayor (PS) Olivier Bianchi, which reflects the new establishment of the right in the Auvergne territory.
“More than a surprise, it is an earthquake that has repercussions up to the national level”estimates to Agence France-Presse (AFP) the senator (LR) of Puy-de-Dôme Jean-Marc Boyer the day after his camp’s triumph. If victory seemed within reach since the arrival – unprecedented in eight decades – of the right in the lead in the first round, it is above all the score which surprises: “with more than 2,000 votes in advance, Julien Bony does better than Valéry Giscard d’Estaing in 1995, who was 500 votes short of being elected”notes Mr. Boyer.
In the second round, the candidate Les Républicains beat his socialist rival by more than five points (51% against 45.5%) while Mr. Bianchi had formed an alliance with LFI. Six years earlier, the socialist was – alone – 12 points ahead of the candidate of the right and the center.
If the socialists have ruled the city since the Liberation, the erosion of the left in Clermont-Ferrand is not completely new, explains Mathias Bernard, political scientist and president of Clermont Auvergne University. It is linked to “the sociological evolution of the city” : its electorate of working-class origin linked to the establishment of Michelin “retracted with deindustrialization”he said.
“The left had benefited until now from the divisions of the right and the center”he also says. However, the new elected official managed to bring together in the first round LR, Horizons, the MoDem and Renaissance, a coalition of the right and the center never seen since the candidacy of Valéry Giscard d’Estaing. The RN, which had achieved a score of 11.29% in the first round, collapsed to 3.64% in the second, suggesting a transfer of votes to the right.
“There is more generally a surge from the right in Puy-de-Dôme”because, beyond the Auvergne capital, several towns in the department have fallen into his hands, analyzes Mr. Bernard. This is the case in Cournon-d’Auvergne, the second town in the department anchored to the left since 1989, but also in Thiers, a stronghold of the working-class left, which elected a right-wing mayor.
