How was the coverage of the legislative

elections different?

Normally the legislative elections confirm the results of the

presidential vote. But the big novelty of this vote was the lef-

tist coalition built by Jean-Luc Mélenchon, the Nupes, which

threatened to win an alternative majority and prevent the

president from governing. So as the stakes were bigger, so

was the interest. In the end, the president’s camp did come

first in terms of the number of seats, but with a relative ma-

jority. And the Nupes did win a significant number of MPs,

as did the RN, which had never before won so many.

Beyond the national stakes, legislative elections are also lo-

cal elections in each of the 577 constituencies. Our regional

bureaux therefore set to work telling local stories, prepa-

ring profiles of local politicians, and writing regional focus

stories, as well as reportage.

There was also a lot of work to do between the two rounds,

with several angles to be explored: the workers’ vote which

continued to trend towards the RN, the former PS and UMP

bastions that were crumbling, ex-ministers of Emmanuel

Macron who saw their seats come under threat, suburbs co-

ming out for LFI candidates. It was a fascinating election to

cover and we felt that the general public attached greater

importance to this vote than to the presidential.

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