Europe 1 with AFP / Photo credit: Alain JOCARD / AFP 18:27 pm, September 24, 2023

The first results of the senatorial elections confirmed on Sunday a trend towards stability in the upper house, dominated by the right, but also the difficulties of the presidential camp. Sonia Backès, the only minister running at the national level, was notably defeated in New Caledonia.

The first results of the senatorial elections confirmed Sunday a trend towards stability in the upper house, dominated by the right, and the difficulties of the presidential camp, which suffered a first setback in New Caledonia. Less than eight months before the next major European elections, 170 of the 348 Senate seats are to be filled for six years in about forty departments, from Landes to Pas-de-Calais via Paris, Île-de-France and Mayotte. The remaining 178 will be in 2026.

Polling stations, mostly set up in the prefecture, closed at 17:30 p.m. in metropolitan France, and the first results were trickling in the early evening. On Sunday morning, Macron recorded an emblematic defeat, that of the Secretary of State for Citizenship Sonia Backès, the only minister running at the national level, beaten in the second round in New Caledonia by the separatist Robert Xowie.

Annick Girardin elected

Two voting systems coexist for these senatorial women with discreet campaigns: in departments where one or two senators are elected, the election takes place by majority vote in two rounds (one round in the morning, the other in the afternoon); and in the other departments, it takes place by proportional representation of a list in one round.

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The first round ended in rural departments, with several incumbents re-elected: 12 of the first 15 senators elected on Sunday were already in office. Election also closed in Saint-Pierre-et-Miquelon, where former Overseas Minister Annick Girardin was elected. But it will be necessary to wait a few hours before doing the accounts.

The right maintained? The presidential majority in difficulty? The left in slight progress? An incursion by the National Rally? White cabbage for the Unsubmissive? Connoisseurs of the electoral map go there each of their predictions. All agree on one point: the opposing forces will only move at the margins, at the dawn of heated parliamentary debates on immigration and the budget.