March 2021 Regional Elections To Be Delayed Three Months Due To Pandemic

Wires reporting that French Prime Minister Jean Castex's office has stated that France's regional elections, due to be held in March 2021, will be delayed by three months due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

• The elections are for regional councils in each of France's 13 administrative regions. The previous elections for these divisions were held in 2015.
• The delay comes a month after a call from the presidents of seven regions to postpone the elections due to the pandemic.
• Regional councils and presidencies do not have legislative powers in their regions, but do levy local taxes and have a substantial budget to spend within their locality. The size of these regions (Ile-de-France is home to 12mn people) gives regional presidents a notable voice on the national stage.
• The regions also control economic and business development (which includes the disbursement of EU structural funds) and tourism, while overseeing public transport, secondary schools, environmental protection, and arts and culture funding.
• In the 2015 election the centre-right Republicans (LR) and its allies won control of eight regions, while the centre-left Socialist Party (PS) and its allies won seven. The far-right Front National (now National Rally, RN) did not win control of any regional presidencies.
• The major shift in the French political landscape since 2015, with LR and PS recording significant declines in popularity), is likely to mean the main contest will be between President Emmanuel Macron's En Marche (REM) and Marine Le Pen's RN.
• The two-round voting system used in France is likely to keep RN out of power in many, if not all, regions. Even if the party wins a plurality in the first round of voting (winning a majority in the first round is very difficult), most supporters of LR, PS, REM or the Greens are likely to shift their votes to whichever moderate party is up against RN in the second round to keep the far-right out of power.