It was a golden constituency: 59.9% of the votes five years ago for Jean-Luc Mélenchon in the second round of the legislative elections then 54.4% of the votes last April in the first round of the presidential election… Unsurprisingly, Manuel Bompard, who inherits this 4th constituency of Bouches-du-Rhône where the Insoumis leader does not stand for re-election, in turn came well ahead this Sunday, collecting 56.04% of the vote.
The director of the presidential campaign of Jean-Luc Mélenchon, “one of the most eminent figures of the new generation” according to the latter – is ahead of Najat Akodad, candidate of Ensemble! (14.88%), which he will face next Sunday.
Defeated 5 years ago in Toulouse in the 9th constituency of Haute-Garonne by a candidate La République en Marche, the one who has since been elected MEP in 2019 is in a very favorable ballot to take his revenge. “There is never an election won in advance,” he warned, however, to journalists during a towing operation on Thursday.
At 36, the man who also led the negotiations for La France insoumise as part of the creation of the New Popular Ecological and Social Union (Nupes) is indeed more than ever favorite to become the deputy of the 1st, 2nd and 3rd arrondissements of Marseille, as well as part of the 5th and 6th arrondissements of Marseille.
43% of the population under poverty alone
The constituency, a former communist stronghold until the 1990s, presents a real human challenge for Manuel Bompard. The proportion of inhabitants who say they have a job or are looking for one is slightly lower in the district than it is nationally (40.5% against 46.7% for the whole of France).
Above all, according to INSEE, nearly 43% of the population lives there below the poverty line, ie three times more than at the national level (14.5%). It was in this area, in the Noailles district, that the two buildings on rue d’Aubagne collapsed in 2018. The tragedy, which caused the death of eight residents in 2018, then underlined the unsanitary conditions of the neighborhood homes.