Flep24 (French Legislative Elections Podcast 2024)

Marlon and Olly discuss the latest developments in French politics including the announcements of the candidacies for president of Gabriel Attal and Nathalie Arthaud, as well as Edouard Phillipe's legal difficulties and the unfolding Israeli election interference scandal.

Shoutout to our producer Emme.

A memo from Raphael Glucksmann leaks, and a comic book by François Ruffin causes consternation in this solo episode from Marlon.  We also go over the vanishing primary on the left.

More Context From Flep24/7

Jean-Luc Mélenchon launches a 4th presidential run, and he’s assembled a machine precision team to carry out the campaign.  Meanwhile, the other parties of the left, divided, search for their candidates.  

Plus, who will the RN’s candidate be? Marine Le Pen or Jordan Bardella?  And what will their program be?

Plus a state of the Far Right in the state, statement: the city of Paris hires Bolloré, Palantir worms its way into the DGSI…

The presidential election is a year away - and the race has truly begun!

Show Notes

We're back with a consistent bang, talking about Rima Hassan's arrest, the Yadan law, Bruno Retailleau's presidential candidacy, and more on this edition of Flep24.

Marlon and Olly discuss the results of the second round of the municipal elections. We recorded this at the time, but circumstances, and our own ineptitude has conspired against us meaning we're releasing it way past the moment.

We hope everyone can still get something out of it though.

More context from Flep24

Marlon's interview with David Giraud https://jacobin.com/2025/03/france-insoumise-roubaix-working-class

Huffpost's fusion map

https://www.huffingtonpost.fr/politique/article/avant-le-second-tour-des-municipales-2026-la-carte-qui-resume-les-fusions-alliances-et-desistements-clx1_261542.html

Le Monde Municipal election results

https://www.lemonde.fr/resultats-elections/

Podcast link | (en)

*Mea Culpa* Olly said there was 200 attacks recorded by Street Press - it was 102, recorded by Rue38 and Contre Attaque.

Show Notes

Want to find about Nicolas Sarkozy's time in prison, his view on an alliance with the RN, his opinion of Jean-Luc Mélenchon and LFI, and what Carla Bruni brought him when she visited him?

All this and more, in today’s episode of Flep24.

Show Notes

Our guest in this episode is Ugo Palheta, a writer and academic whose book on the rise of fascism in France was published in English this year (translated by Flep24 guest David Broder).

Ugo tells us about the “refascisation” of French society, the role racism plays in contemporary fascism, and the crisis of capitalism that has helped produce it. Plus, are there any fascist countries in the world today?

All this and more, in today’s episode of Flep24.

Show Notes

Olly and Marlon discuss the return of Sebastien Lecornu to Prime Minister, just a few days after he resigned from the post. Olly also cuts in from the future to discuss the Parti Socialiste's deal with the government to save Macronism in exchange for the suspension of the pension reform.

After just a single day of his government, French Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu has resigned. Macron initially accepted his resignation, but is still trying to get him to negotiate a new government.

The word on all lips? Dissolution of the National Assembly, and elections: legislative and presidential. Impeachment music rises, Macron is spotted strolling pensively by the Seine, and all quarters of French politics tell us about their surprise at the situation. Meanwhile, the left tries to recompose the New Popular Front, the fascist right mounts a call for a union of the right, and even Renaissance, Macron’s party, plans to campaign against the government.

All this on more on tonight’s emergency episode of Flep24, the French Legislative Elections podcast for 2024, and maybe truly now 2025.

Show Notes

Marlon & Olly introduce Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu, who you might know as Defense Minister Sébastien Lecornu. He’s Macron’s longest serving minister, and a loyalist. Now he’s got the top job, but how long will he be able to keep it? We go over Lecornu’s Monet connection, what’s in his bank accounts, and his LR past and positions on gay marriage. All that and more on today’s edition of Flep24.

Show Notes

Aaaand Bayrou has lost the confidence vote in his government, which he himself called.

Olly and Marlon run through various options that could follow: A new prime minister? Another election? Maybe even a new president???

The stage is all set for François Bayrou to go, come a confidence vote against him on September 8th. Behind the scenes, what are the next political moves, who wants who gone, and who wants to work with who? Plus, the circulating names game, will Macron dissolve parliament, and does Jordan Bardella have a soft spot for our man from Pau? All this and more, on this edition of Flep24.

Show Notes

The audio on this one isn't brilliant but it is listenable - we'll have it sorted next time. Olly wasn't using any mic and then he messed up some of the audacity settings when editing.

We talked about the upcoming vote of no confidence in Francois Bayrou's government, the movement of 10th of September (which Olly inexplicably called the 10th of December) and the ongoing debt saga.

Three Legislative Elections and an Old Prime Minister

Marlon comes back in form to relaunch Flep24’s coverage heading into budget season. We go over the Minister of Culture’s bid for a parliamentary seat in Paris, a former Prime Minister’s challenge (and presidential ambitions), and a recent regional health agency appointment in Brittany. All that and more in this edition of Flep24.

Show Notes

Olly and Marlon are joined by Deborah Leter from Tsedek! a decolonial Jewish group based in France to discuss the state of antisemitism in France, the relationship of the French Jewish community to Israel and why LFI's critics are wrong about antisemitism.

Marlon takes a solo look at who might support a Bruno Retailleau run for president in 2027. He’s flying high in the polls and in the regard of French billionaires who also want Le Pen to win.

And a quick look at the 2026 Paris election. The Socialists still have a good position, but they’re facing serious challenges from the radical left, and from Rachida Dati, the conservative LR Culture Minister who’s a long time opponent of the city’s current mayor, Anne Hidalgo.

All that and more on this edition of Flep24/7!

Show Notes

Show Notes

Marlon and Olly go over the Salon du Bourget, a glitzy airshow to the Northeast of Paris where weapons companies show off their latest deadly hardware. We take a look at some of the new weapons systems, France’s military production goals, as well as Ursula von der Leyen’s justifications for dispensing with democracy as Europe rearms to the tune of nearly a trillion euros.We also take a brief look at the eight Israeli companies at the show, and the French government’s incoherent attitude to the country, its companies, its war and genocide.

Show Notes

David Broder and Philippe Marlière join us to discuss the state of the left, and how the left should respond to 2027.

We discuss the history of the French left, the prospects for unity and whether or not the goal for LFI in the next cycle is victory or knuckling down and attempting to maintain hegemony.

David's most recent book:

https://www.plutobooks.com/9780745348025/mussolinis-grandchildren/

Phillipes's most recent book:

https://www.editionstextuel.com/livre/les_tontons_flingueurs_de_la_gauche

Marlon and Olly go over the results of the first round of the Socialist Party Congress, and what the results mean for the future of the party, the left, France, and beyond.

Marlon also goes over a protest at a recent La France Insoumise speech in Paris by a group accusing Jean-Luc Mélenchon of antisemitism.

Show Notes

Olly and Marlon hop on the mic to discuss the new revelations in the Betharram Affair and its implications for the government, the PS Congress and the failure of unity on the left.

Show Notes

We go deep on Marine Le Pen’s conviction, and discuss the byzantine byways of the French legal system in this crossover episode with Liam & Patrick from the Royal Palace Podcast.

We get into the case against Le Pen, her party, and her eurodeputies, who were convicted on charges of embezzlement. We also get into the legality of her ineligibility penalty, and just how the French appeals process works. Is this lawfare? (It depends on how you describe it).

All this and more on today’s episode of Flep24/7.

France and Algeria’s diplomatic falling out continues, with many of the developments fueled by domestic political agendas. François Bayrou rang the alarm on France’s budget deficit which means one thing is coming: cuts. And we take a look at an editorial by Marianne’s new editor, as well as some of the behind-the-scenes political developments in the French press.

Show Notes

Olly and Marlon hop on the mic for a quick one breaking down the Le Pen conviction and the reactions to it.

Olly and Marlon get on the mic to discuss far right politicians taking the mickey with expenses, the government trying to restrict Muslim women's ability to wear the veil even further, the internal politics of the socialist party and a potential future referendum.

https://www.liberation.fr/politique/voile-dans-le-sport-bayrou-recadre-les-ministres-opposes-a-linterdiction-20250318_LILTWSZZZVEYDJWHEE456KLCBQ/

https://www.lecanardenchaine.fr/breves/la-mare-aux-canards/828-12-mars-2025

More Context From Flep24/7

European rearmament is back on the table after the United States moves away from the continent with Donald Trump as president. Marlon & Olly discuss how various forces in French politics are responding to the call for a new European military order, as well as how the government is justifying its refusal to negotiate on the retirement age by pointing to a need for more military spending.

Show Notes

Marlon and Olly are joined once again by La France Insoumise MP Nathalie Oziol to discuss the strategy that the party is putting into motion for the municipal elections in 2026.

They talk about rebuilding red bases, which cities LFI will target, what an LFI city will look like and there's a bit of discussion at the end about the tidal wave of violent threats that the party gets.

Nathalie's Twitter: https://x.com/NathalieOziol

Olly and Marlon hop on the mic to discuss Ruffin, Retaillau and Villepin itching to run for president, LFI reaching out to the Greens, Manuel Valls' frosty welcome in New Caledonia and the drumbeat of political violence targeted against the left and Muslims.

Show notes:

https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/pacific/542779/manuel-valls-in-new-caledonia-war-of-words-and-clashes-over-independence-talks

https://x.com/HugoCouturier/status/1894658665350926705

https://actu.fr/auvergne-rhone-alpes/lyon_69123/municipales-2026-a-lyon-la-france-insoumise-propose-une-alliance-avec-les-ecologistes_62290617.html

https://jacobin.com/2025/02/france-palestine-kazib-authoritarian-terrorism

Revelations into the Bétharram affair continue to pile up, with reporting about a possible intervention by French Prime Minister François Bayrou into the case, as well as ministerial level abandonment of holding private Catholic schools to account.

Plus, is Chirac’s former Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin about to jump into the 2027 presidential race?All this and more on today’s episode of Flep24/7.

Show Notes

Olly and Marlon are joined by the Marxist academic and activist Stathis Kouvelakis for an in depth discussion on how the far right rose to prominence in France, the aftershocks of the 2005 EU constitutional referendum, race, class and the strategy of the left and why LFI is better than Syriza. Stathis is on the editorial board of the communist review Contretemps, trains LFI cadres in Marxism at Institut La Boetie and was part of the leadership of Syriza.

Stathis' article on race and class in Contretemps https://www.contretemps.eu/alliance-tours-bourgs-antiracisme-classe/

The Socialist Party has broken the New Popular Front alliance, Jean-Luc Mélenchon said at a political meeting in Paris this evening.

Show Notes

Reporting from Mediapart about French Prime Minister François Bayrou’s knowledge of allegations of sexual assault at a private Catholic school in his backyard continue to pile up, as well as calls in the National Assembly for Bayrou to account for lying about that knowledge.

In the meantime, a no-confidence vote failed against the government over its passage of the social security financing bill. Neither the Socialist Party, nor the National Rally censored Bayrou’s government, so it’s hanging on for now.All that and more, on this episode of Flap24/7.

Show Notes

François Bayrou is confronted on the floor of the National Assembly over allegations that he didn’t protect students who were abused, physically and sexually, for decades at the private Catholic school where his wife taught. Bayrou denies any knowledge of the allegations, and says he’s be suing Mediapart, who reported on the case last week.

And Gérald Darmanin, the hard-line Justice Minister, wants to avoid a Le Pen-Mélenchon runoff in 2027. He says the way to avoid that is a primary for the governmental camp, which could include the hard-line Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau entering the contest.

All that and more, on today’s episode of Flep24/7.

Show Notes

Nicolas Sarkozy is filmed jogging with an ankle bracelet, there’s controversy on the far-right over scores being settled from 2022, and an RN mayor’s headed for trial over alleged corruption (which he denies).

Show Notes

There’s a debate on in France today about birthright citizenship, and politicians all across the right, the center-right, the republican right, the right of the center-right and the right of the left of the center agree that something needs to change, and that debates on birthright citizenship should not be taboo.

Outside of that, Flep24/7 takes a look at Macron’s plans for artificial intelligence and referendums, including the state of a referendum on immigration, and Jean-Luc Mélenchon’s op-ed about ChatGPT and French artificial intelligence.

Show Notes

Flep24/7 was out this week with the champagne left, eating caviar, and getting some insights into LFI. You’ll hear about it here, as well as Sunday’s municipal election with Louis Boyard.

All that and more—and plenty more episodes to come in 2025 from Flep24/7.

More Context From Flep24/7

In a stunning return to form the PS has decided to abandon its previous promises and become the crutch for the Macronist Bayrou government.

Eric Zemmour is getting ready to go to Washington and Mélenchon is seeking his 500 signatures to run for president.

Flep24 is back with a new name—Flep24/7—after a long winter break marked by illness and despair…but French political news never stops. The patriarch of the National Rally is dead, it’s the 10th anniversary of the Charlie Hebdo attacks, and the Socialist Party looks like it’s going to betray the left wing alliance. We talk about Jean-Marie Le Pen’s assiduously documented history of torture, debates on the left about Charlie, and debates on the left (and the Socialist Party) about collaborating with the new government.

All that and more—and plenty more episodes to come in 2025 from Flep24/7.

Show Notes

Olly and Marlon hop back on the mic to discuss Le Monde's stunning revelation that Macron is actually quite racist, a fact that a cursory listen to FLEP would have revealed to you.

We also talk about the devastation in Mayotte and the break-in at Mélenchon's house.

France’s new Prime Minister is François Bayrou, a wiley operator who was a recidivist candidate for president until hitching his wagon closely to Emmanuel Macron in 2017. Since then he’s dreamed of the most powerful positions in the state, and now he has one of them.

Some parties on the left like the Communists, Socialists, and Greens are eschewing the anti-agreementism of more radical La France Insoumise, who are already promising to bring forward a new no-confidence vote against the Bayrou government. They say it’s just the same old product that Barnier was selling.

But the National Rally says they’re going to be vigilant, as they try to impose their line on Bayrou, who isn’t an unyielding opponent of Le Pen and her line.

Olly discusses pressure from within the Communist Party on their National Secretary Fabien Roussel, and Marlon talks about some politicians from MoDem, Bayrou’s party.

Show Notes

Olly and Marlon hop on to chat about the state of the negotiations for the new prime minister (they are not going very well) and LFI's plan to impeach Von Der Lyen over Mercosur.

Olly said that LFI's presidency of the group in the EU was new - *it's not* they have co-chaired the group with Die Linke since 2019, so their plan to rebuild the group may still be in the offing.

Marlon's NYT piece

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/12/05/opinion/france-marine-le-pen.html

Olly's Jacobin piece

https://jacobin.com/2024/12/france-centrists-nfp-parti-socialiste

Olly and Marlon discuss the last 24 hours in French politics.

We have long been bearish on the survival chances of the NFP and it looks like the breakup has finally happened and Faure has broken ranks with the rest of the Front.

We also talk briefly about Mercosur and announce the donkey of the day.

Marlon's NYT piece

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/12/05/opinion/france-marine-le-pen.html

Olly's Jacobin piece

https://jacobin.com/2024/12/france-centrists-nfp-parti-socialiste

The government has fallen, and Michel Barnier is out. What comes next? Some people say presidential elections. Others say a rotating cast of soon to be defeated prime ministers, or government by decree.

Marlon goes over the scene where Barnier knew he was done, as well as the plans by France’s political forces to capitalize on the moment.

The goal? Winning in 2027 - or whenever the next election is.

Show Notes

Barnier tried to pass his budget via article 49.3 and is now facing a motion of no confidence which he will lose.

Show notes

Olly's New Statesman piece:

https://www.newstatesman.com/world/europe/2024/12/macron-no-confidence-french-government-about-to-collapse

https://www.liberation.fr/economie/budget-censure-les-acteurs-economiques-sont-inquiets-et-cest-inquietant-20241202_FRQU55FASRFCLHMCQK6WZZFP5Y/

https://www.liberation.fr/idees-et-debats/editorial/le-493-consequence-logique-et-fatale-du-jeu-de-barnier-avec-lextreme-droite-20241202_SSELWAUQEVE6RNIC4U3SZOWH44/

Olly and Marlon talk about the hysteria in France over Israeli football hooligans getting beaten up in Amsterdam, reactions to the American election in France and some news about Le Pen + Olly talks about his brief encounter with Francois Hollande.

Show Notes for November 14th, 2024

With the backdrop of the American presidential election today, France’s parties are all making moves with an eye on the 2027 presidential election. Gabriel Attal is rallying the Macron wing as he takes control of the party, and the plucky Socialists want to eject what they see as the radical Mélenchon wing from the left.

The goal? Winning in 2027.

Show Notes