The first round of municipal elections takes place in France this Sunday (March 15), electing new mayors in more than 34,000 communes including Nice.
If no candidate receives a majority (50% of overall votes) in the first round, a second round is held a week later on March 22, with candidates who received 10% or more of the vote in the first round eligible.
High-profile battles are taking place across major cities including Paris, where previous mayor Anne Hidalgo became a household name during her two terms, and the battle in Nice sees a number of prominent figures this year.
Incumbent mayor in Nice Christian Estrosi is hoping to be re-elected to the post he has held almost continuously since 2008 (save for a brief spell between June 2016 and May 2017 when he was president of the regional council).
His primary challenger is former colleague Eric Ciotti, head of the Union des droites pour la République, a group of MPs who broke away from the right-wing Les Républicains in 2024 to ally with the far-right Rassemblement National.
Two separate left-wing candidates are also running for the position, with one group an alliance of the Socialists, Greens, and Communists, the other the far-left La France Insoumise and Nouveau parti anticapitaliste.
Below, we review the main policies for each candidate.
Christian Estrosi – Horizons, Les Républicains
Mr Estrosi is backed by centrist and right-wing parties in the area, which currently dominate the municipal council.
However, rival Mr Ciotti is ahead according to local polls – some say he has a double-digit lead – and the centrist group is now calling on left-wing voters to back the incumbent mayor in a broad ‘republican front’ alliance against the far-right.
Mr Estrosi is no stranger to controversy, with comments on everything from France’s colonial history and reinstating the death penalty to an original opposition to gay civil partnerships, however he is a popular local politician after holding the post for so long.
The long-term mayor of Nice has much to fall back on during his tenure, including a strict focus on security following the attack on July 14, 2016 that saw 86 people killed, expansion of the city’s public transport infrastructure and the city’s status as one of France’s cleanest.
He promises to introduce at least one referendum per year on major issues, continue to reduce the city’s debt, and improve public transportation with new tram lines and services running later at night / more frequently at weekends.
Plans to introduce thousands of new parking spaces across the city, and make parking free from 19:00 onwards, are also included in his manifesto, alongside an anti-mosquito plan.
A ban on converting new constructions into second homes in certain zones of the city (namely along the Promenade des Anglais and Old Town) will be introduced, and local workers will have a 'priority’ access to housing.
10 ‘maisons de santé’ are also to be introduced in local quarters.
Mr Estrosi recently faced a setback after a cycle lane installed between the city’s port and Quai des États-Unis in 2020 was ruled illegal and removed.
Eric Ciotti - UDR, Rassemblement National, etc
Fellow local politician Éric Ciotti is a former ally of Mr Estrosi.
Previously both members of Les Républicains, Mr Ciotti and Mr Estrosi worked closely together in local politics in Nice and the Alpes-Maritimes department.
Primarily backed by his UDR party and the far-right Rassemblement National – who are not running their own candidate – Mr Ciotti also has the backing of several other small groups including independent ecologists.
Many believe that on a local level however, the two politicians are largely similar despite the different groups backing them.
“Everyone in Nice knows that Ciotti and Estrosi come from the same mold: Sarkozy-esque, anti-immigration, and ultra-security-focused,” said a supporter of the far-left La France Insoumise to media outlet LCP about the candidates.
Mr Ciotti promises to cut Nice’s debt and cancel out increases to property taxes top the list, alongside a promise to maintain local tax rates and not increase them further.
He wants to double the number of municipal police and create a brigade dedicated to ensuring safety at night, and to improve the Hancy fire station in the city.
1,000 new crèche spaces and plans to install air conditioning at schools across the department are also promised.
Thousands of new parking spaces are also planned to be introduced, and the removal of a toll on the A8 near Saint-Isidore.
Juliette Chesnel-Le Roux - Greens, Socialists, Communists
Leading the left-wing alliance is Juliette Chesnel-Le Roux, a current councillor.
Polls put the left-wing candidate in third place, far behind the two main candidates above, although her campaign recently went viral for the use of a unique marketing tactic.
Information pamphlets about the campaign were sent through letter boxes, however they were based on Pokémon cards and titled ‘Pollumon’, referencing air quality in Nice which the pamphlets say kill 500 people per year in the city.
A major policy for the alliance is based on changing communal water costs, with the first 12 cubic metres used by a household free, then a fixed price for 12 - 60 cubic metres, another for 60 - 120 cubic metres, then a higher price above this.
The tiered system means residents will pay more for using a higher amount of water, targeting those who use communal water to fill their swimming pools.
The candidate is also proposing free public transport for local residents of the city, a move it says will cost €44 million per year, and could be funded by reducing the spending in the city’s communications department and other areas.
A potential increase to the city’s tourist tax based on the price of the accommodation a visitor is staying in is also possible to fund the measure Mrs Chesnel-La Roux has said, but this is not part of official policy yet.
A return of rent controls is part of the alliance’s manifesto, as is a plan to help owners of an estimated 5,000 properties that have been vacant between two and eight years to rent them out. The council will purchase these properties for rent if owners do comply.
The group wants to see a night-time flight curfew, with no flights between 23:00 and 06:00, as well as an end to private jets on the runway.
Mireille Damiano - La France Insoumise, Nice Front Populaire
The final major candidate for the election is Mireille Damiano of the far-left La France Insoumise, supported by other far-left groups.
Currently polling a few points behind the other left-wing alliance, Ms Damiano is a local lawyer who wants to improve participatory democracy in the city, with more referendums for local issues.
Major local issues the alliance is focusing on include reducing homelessness in the city, increasing the amount of social housing (reaching the legal minimum of 25%, with the group saying only 14% of the current stock is social housing), and reducing the use of cars by improving public transport in the city.
This includes via the return of the previous €10 for 10 trips travel card (a measure also supported by rival Mr Ciotti).
Finally, the party wants to ensure that residents in areas regularly impacted by severe weather events (storms, flooding, etc) are still able to insure their homes even after major companies refuse them.
