France: in Saint-Denis, Jean-Luc Mélenchon launches his fourth campaign for the Élysée.

The leader of La France insoumise (LFI), Jean-Luc Mélenchon, held his first major campaign meeting for the 2027 presidential election on Sunday, June 7, 2026, at Place Victor-Hugo in front of the town hall of Saint-Denis (Seine-Saint-Denis), with the presence of writers Annie Ernaux and Éric Vuillard. LFI announced that 10,000 people were expected at this outdoor rally, which opened at 3:30 PM.

Mélenchon declared his candidacy for the 2027 presidential election on May 3, 2026, on TF1. This is his fourth attempt for the Élysée, after 2002, 2012, and 2017, and his third call for candidacy since 2022. Since May 3, La France insoumise claims to have collected over 280,000 citizen sponsorships via its online platform – a militant indicator distinct from the 500 sponsorships from elected officials required by the Constitutional Council for an official candidacy. The goal of 300,000 was set for the day of the meeting.

The choice of Saint-Denis is not random. The city, the first municipality in Île-de-France after Paris with nearly 149,000 inhabitants, has been led since March 21, 2026, by Bally Bagayoko, who was elected mayor in the first round with 50.77% of the votes on an LFI-PCF list. For LFI coordinator Manuel Bompard, the meeting allowed Mélenchon to “make the connection between the ‘New France’ and the history of France,” referring to the concept of popular recomposition that has been at the center of LFI’s strategy since 2018. The Basilica of Saint-Denis, the necropolis of the kings of France, provided the symbolic backdrop for the gathering.

A Radical Left Candidacy in a Fragmented Landscape

Mélenchon justified his early campaign launch by citing “the weakness of other candidates” and his desire to “defeat the RN convincingly,” according to statements reported by Le Parisien and France 24. An Odoxa poll from late May 2026 credited him with 16% of first-round voting intentions, an increase from his score in 2022, according to LFI’s leadership.

The French political landscape eighteen months before the election remains marked by uncertainties in the centrist bloc, following Emmanuel Macron’s announcement in March 2026 that he would not seek a third term. The Socialist Party and the French Communist Party have yet to designate a candidate. In an interview with franceinfo, Mélenchon stated that “clarification must happen within the PCF and the PS,” refusing to propose a left-wing unity before this meeting.

Annie Ernaux, Nobel Prize in Literature 2022, and Éric Vuillard, Prix Goncourt 2017, were scheduled to speak at the event, according to BFMTV and Le Parisien. The presence of the two writers aimed to ground the gathering in a broader cultural and symbolic register beyond LFI’s usual electorate.

Saint-Denis, First Test of Physical Mobilization

This meeting represented the first real test of LFI’s ability to mobilize outside its usual strongholds since the left coalition’s defeat in the October 2025 legislative elections, where LFI lost about twenty seats in the National Assembly to the Rassemblement National.

LFI organized buses departing from several major cities in France for the gathering, with some routes reaching full capacity several days before the event. La France insoumise presents Saint-Denis as “the largest city in France governed by LFI,” a political argument used to anchor the campaign in the popular territories of the Paris suburbs.