High-speed rail project, rent controls: Toulouse candidates divided for municipal election
Tight race expected in city as far left home in on quarter of vote share
Toulouse is expected to be hotly contested in the upcoming elections
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Toulouse faces an unpredictable municipal election, with the main candidates proposing differing visions for the city.
Incumbent mayor Jean-Luc Moudenc is seeking a further term, holding the position first between 2004 - 2008 and again since 2014.
However, an alliance of the Greens, Socialists, and Communists are close behind in the polls, and the far-left La France Insoumise has the potential to perform well.
Below, we look at the policies of the main candidates running for the election.
Jean-Luc Moudenc - Les Républicains, Renaissance, Horizons, MoDem
Incumbent mayor Mr Moudenc has gained the backing of the right-wing and centrist parties for his bid, with a broad alliance of parties across the spectrum.
He is using the city’s history since 2014 – based on ‘economic dynamism and sound management’ when under his control – as a main push for his campaign, promising to keep the city running as it has been.
Major policies include a significant expansion of security cameras in the city – one on every street, and expanding the use of AI camera technology – as well as more municipal police officers.
Improvement to schooling infrastructure and a communal mutuelle programme are also included, alongside expansion to the public transport infrastructure.
He also supports the construction of the new high-speed rail line between Toulouse and Bordeaux.
François Briançon - Socialists, Greens, Communists
Mr Briançon is the candidate looking to unseat the right-wing mayor in a traditionally left-wing city (many MPs represent left-wing parties but the mass support behind a single non-left figure has seen the current mayor, Mr Moudenc, regularly re-elected).
Running on a platform of improving social housing in the city, he also plans for 15,000 new affordable homes and the renovation of a further 30,000 that already exist in the city but are vacant or unutilised.
Regarding security, Mr Briançon wants one police officer for every 1,000 residents of the city.
In terms of transportation, he backs free public transport for younger residents (including university students on scholarships), and expansion of a Toulouse ‘RER’-style train network, and also supports the new high-speed project (even if some in the wider electoral alliance are against it).
François Piquemal – La France Insoumise
François Piquemal’s campaign could see the far-left list pick up a quarter of the first-round votes even with another left-wing candidate in the running.
Mr Piquemal, currently an MP for the party, wants a programme of rent control, a greatly improved bus service, and the creation of several new health centres.
He also advocates free public transport for the under 26 age group, reorganisation of local policing across the city’s quarters, and publicly controlled water management when the current contract is up in 2030.
The latter would see the introduction of tiered costs for water usage – similar to proposals from candidates in Nice – with ‘the first cubic metres of water used free’ then a progressive pricing system in place where costs are higher for the most water used, to encourage smart water usage.
Julien Leonardelli – Rassemblement National
The final major candidate, far-right hopeful Mr Leonardelli is aiming to reinvigorate the city by using the local development plan to encourage economic activity, including outside of the city’s famous aeronautical expertise.
A focus on budgetary sustainability is central to the programme, as well as simplifying administrative processes to make applications to the council from residents more efficient.
Renovation of social housing is part of the programme, alongside a potential local complement to the national MaPrimeRénov’ service provided it can be funded adequately, but he is not in favour of rent control.
Mr Leonardelli backs the high-speed rail project, saying the state must ‘honour its commitments’ as well as improved public transport in the city, but not at the expense of drivers.
An expansion to local health centres, as well as increasing the number of healthcare workers by making the city more appealing for them to work in, is also on the agenda.
