National Front makes ground as Socialists fade on Riviera

President of the Conseil Général Eric Ciotti was reelected last night with 76.8 per cent of the vote

The anti-immigration party led in five out of the 26 council races in the Alpes-Maritimes after counting finished last night, and will contest 14 seats overall in the second round of voting, which will take place on Sunday 27th March. In Levens the party edged out the Socialists by just three votes to progress to the run-off.

President of the Alpes-Maritimes Conseil Général, Eric Ciotti (UMP), was reelected last night after garnering 76.8 per cent of the vote in his Saint-Martin-Vésubie district. Ciotti was one of five UMP councillors returned to the Conseil Général after just the one round of voting.

It was a bad night for left-wing candidates across the department, who had anticipated a good performance on the back of dwindling support nationally amongst voters for Nicolas Sarkozy’s UMP party. In the Alpes-Maritimes the left will only be involved in six second round contests and will lose Nice’s seventh district after incumbent Dominique Boy-Mottard was pushed into third place behind the UMP and the Front National.

The only real boost for the left came in L’Escarène where Communist Party councillor, Noël Albin, was reelected with just over 53 per cent of the vote.

The FN also made huge progress in the Var at the expense of the Socialist and other left-leaning parties. Finishing top of the polls in four races in the department after the first round, the FN will fight for 14 seats out of the 22 that are up for grabs. The Front National forced the incumbent liberal parties out of the run-off vote in Le Luc and Toulon’s second district.

Yet despite their dismal display overall, the Socialist Party were the only one to gained an absolute majority in one seat on the same night. Pierre-Yves Collombat was returned to his post with 52.5 per cent of the vote.

The situation in the Alpes-Maritimes and Var have not reflected the national trend, which has sent the UMP reeling, with the party polling just over 16 per cent of the vote, a mere 1.8 per cent more than the Front National achieved.

The low turnout has been blamed for the rise of the extreme-right, with just 45 per cent of eligible voters bothering to post a ballot form nationwide, 44 per cent in the Var and 42 per cent in the Alpes-Maritimes.

TD