Local elections in France and the case of Maurice Fritel - a very bad loser

The battles have been fought, the results have been digested and the post-mortem has been done.

The French local elections are over for another six years.

Up and down the country, mayors and their councils are now busy installing themselves comfortably while the losers are returning to life as normal.

Well not quite. At least not in the village of Saint-Germain-d'Aunay (population 174) in the département of Orne in northwestern France.

You see the former mayor, Maurice Fritel, has left those who will succeed him, a less than pleasant welcoming gift - or two.
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Maurice Fritel (screenshot France 3 television report)

First up, Fritel, who hadn't been planning on for standing for re-election as mayor for health issues but wanted to remain on the council, decided to dig up the only path leading to the salle polyvalente, or village hall, making it impassable for vehicles other than tractors or four-wheel drives.

The 69-year-old was well within his legal rights as although the land on which the village hall stands is public property, the path he ploughed and which leads to the building...well that belongs to him.

(screenshot France 3 television report)

But Fritel, who had been mayor of the village since 1978 didn't stop there.

He also "nicked" all the chairs from the mayor's office: chairs he had himself "donated" to the local council some years back.

"People who supported me asked me to remove him (Fritel) from the list," the newly-elected mayor, Louis Toqué, told France 3 television.

"They were the same people who had stood against him in the last elections and his removal from the list this time around clearly upset him."

You don't say!

Fritel is far from being contrite though.

In fact he seems rather amused and satisfied with himself.

"I didn't hide anything from anyone," he said. "All you have to do is take a look at the property register to see that the land belongs to me."

The cost of building a path (on communal land) allowing vehicles access to the village hall will be around €6,000.

Sounds like a great place to live.

Celebrity candidates in the French local elections

No, it's not a newly-invented television programme along the lines of  "Celebrity Squares", the British comedy game show based on the original US "Hollywood Squares".

Instead it's a look at some of those French "celebrities" who've taken the plunge and decided to stand in the country's local elections.

And with more than 900,000 declared candidates fighting it out for places on one of the 36,552 councils up and down the country and the 128 overseas, it's perhaps not surprising that a few "famous faces" have decided to jump on the political bandwagon.

Perhaps the best-known one is the popular TV game show host Vincent Lagaf'.

The 54-year-old presenter of such delights as "Bigdil" ("Let's make a deal" in the United States) and most recently  "Le Juste Prix" ("The price is right") has taken time out from his day job to campaign in his home town of Cavalaire-sur-Mer in the département of Var.

Lagaf' (under his real name Vincent Rouil) occupies last place on Philippe Leonelli's 29-strong list so stands no chance of being elected, but that hasn't stopped the TF1 showman from throwing himself into "the cause" of increasing the profile of the town.

"It's by no means a political reconversion," he said.

"It's just that I would like to suggest ideas for activities and events - my area of expertise."

Vincent Lagaf' (source Wikipedia, author - M.Mopie)

Mathieu Johann is a name some of you might (???) remember if you were glued to your boxes watching the fourth series of the TV talent show "Star academy" back in 2004.

Since then, he has carved out a moderately successful music career (not taking into account the one album he hs released) by opening a couple of café-concert bars in his native town of Saint-Lô in the département of La Manche.

And that's where the 33-year-old has decided to stand, announcing to his "fans" on Facebook that he would be appearing on the list headed by François Brière.

Johann is third on the list - so stands a pretty good chance of being elected - but maybe it would help if he pointed out to people that he appears under his real name of Mathieu Lepresle.

Moving swiftly along, and another singer - this time one who can claim real success - has also taken the decision to stand in the town in which he was born.

It's Grégoire (surname Boissenot) of "Toi + Moi" fame (you surely remember his first hit in 2008) and a string of singles since including last year's  pretty awful  ""Si tu me voyais" from his third album which was kindly "chosen" for your "delectation" as a Friday's French music break.


Have no fears though, Boissenot isn't planning to give up his music career. The 34-year-old is just "lending his support" to the current mayor of Senlis in the département of Oise, Pascale Loiseleur, on whose list the singer is 28th out of 33 candidates.

Grégoire (screenshot from the official video for "Si tu me voyais")

Another candidate who took his first tentative steps in the world of music (the first season of X Factor) before moving on to modelling and now politics, is Bruno Clavet.

The 24-year-old has decided to throw in his lot with the far-right Front National (FN) and is the party's candidate in the race to be mayor of the IIIème arrondissement in Paris.

When he announced his candidacy and published a photo of himself with the party's founder, Jean-Marie Le Pen on Twitter, Internet users had a field day, reworking some of Clavet's former modelling photo's into fake campaign posters.

Bruno Clavet, spoof campaign poster (source Twitter)

"When I first approached Jean-Marie Le Pen, I was a little unsure as to how he would react," said Clavet, who now describes himself as a "student in strategy and public affairs"

"But he was 100 per cent behind me and happy that young people wanted to become involved in politics."



Municipales à Paris: quand un candidat FN... par leparisien


From the realms of TV reality (well, you know it had to happen) comes Cindy Lopes - a former contestant on that intellectually challenging show "Secret Story".

The self-proclaimed "grande gueule" is to bring all her charm and diplomacy to Guy Juin's list in the town of Villeneuve-le-Roi in the suburbs of Paris, where she has been living for almost three years.

Fourth on a list of 33 candidates, Lopes says that, "Being a big mouth is very popular in politics. I am well respected in this town and I have also great respect for people."

Should she be elected, Lopes says she'll still have plenty of time to continue making television appearances (in delightful programmes such as "Les Anges de la téléréalité"  presumably, in which former reality contestants try out for new careers in...oh, you Google it) because "politics won't be a full time occupation."

Now there's a great campaign slogan.

Finally, Alexandre Piel was supposed to have lent his considerable bulk to Laurent Bonnaterre's list in the town of  Caudebec-lès-Elbeuf in the département of Seine-Maritime.

In fact there was a great deal of media interest when Piel, who was crowned one of the Mister Universe winners in Hamburg last year, announced in January that he would be standing on the Socialist party's list.

But it all went a little pear-shaped for the 39-year-old a few days later when he was taken into custody for questioning.

While that might be an ideal launching pad for political life at a national level, neither sex nor financial impropriety was the reason for Piel being questioned.

Rather it was the suspicion of doping after police intercepted a package from Thailand addressed to Piel that contained anabolic steroids.

Bonnaterre issued a statement saying he had spoken to Piel and the bodybuilder had "presented his apologies as well as his intention to withdraw himself from the list."

French local elections - for two candidates, Henriette Frantz and Elise Machado, age makes no difference

Recently nonagenarians Arthur Richier and Roger Sénié decided to call it a day - politically speaking.

At 92 and 93 years of age respectively and after more than 60 years each in the job, both men thought better of standing yet again to be mayor of their villages.

But they are (almost) mere babes (all right, let's not exaggerate) compared to Henriette Frantz.

She has decided to put herself forward as a candidate in this year's local elections...at the age of 100.

The former headmistress occupies the last but one position on Yves Crubellier's list for the far-right Front National (FN) in the town of Saint-Genis-Laval (population just over 20,000) not far from the city of Lyon.

"I've always been to the right of the political spectrum," she said. "But at the same time I'm not really that politicised," added the woman who also stood at the last local elections for the FN back in 2008.

"I’m really happy to be a candidate because I think I can make a difference. The future isn't bright and I long for a serenity that no longer exists," she continued.

"Marine (Le Pen) is good, but she does not have the same stature as her father (Jean-Marie)," she said, admitting that the founder of the FN had made some errors in the past, but they had "to be excused".

Frantz isn't the oldest candidate seeking election though. That honour goes to a 103-year-old woman in Marseille, according to official statistics published by the interior ministry.

Henriette Frantz and Elise Machado candidates in the French local elections (collage of screenshots from France TV info)

Meanwhile at the other end of the age scale is Elise Machado who'll be standing as a candidate in the village of Le Mémont (population 41) in the département of Doubs in eastern France.

At just 17 years old, Machado is the youngest candidate in this year's local elections, beating the minimum age limit of 18 required to be eligible to stand because...well, her 18th birthday falls on March 22, the day before the first round of voting.

Machado says the decision to stand "represents the first steps in her adult life."

"It doesn't necessarily mean I'm interested in politics which sometimes appears a little 'fuzzy' (sounds as though she's pretty clued up already)," she said.

"What interests me most is to give my opinion on what happens in the village in which I've lived since I was born."

Local elections in France - the problem of gender parity

One of the new features in the upcoming local elections is that in every town and village of more than 1,000 inhabitants, all lists must contain an equal number of men and women.

It's part of drive to have more women involved in politics at a local level and a decision to be applauded (depending on your opinion of course).

But at the same time it has also presented a problem in a number of villages throughout France such as Pérouges (population of just over 1,200) in the département of Ain, where the current mayor, Paul Vernay has had a hard job persuading enough women to join his Socialist Party - Europe Écologie Les Verts (EELV or Greens) list in his attempt to be re-elected.

"The answers I have come up against from women have included the lack of time to devote to local matters, or some of them simply don't feel they would be competent enough," he said.

"And then there are others who don't want to get involved in politics."

But it's not just small villages which have run into problems on the gender parity requirement.

The Green party in one of France's biggest cities has also had to rejig its list - because of an initial oversight.

Antoine Maurice (screenshot Le Journal du Dimanche video report)

Antoine Maurice is the EELV candidate for the city of Toulouse. At 31st position on Maurice's list (so with little or no real chance of being elected) up until a few weeks ago was a certain Florence Bertocchio, a 54-year-old engineer who has been living as a transgender woman for the past five years and is a spokesperson for the LGBT rights group in the city.

Bertocchio had her civil status changed from man to woman in December 2012, a decision made formal in July 2013 but somehow the Greens had got into something of a muddle and actually given her a position on the official list which had been "reserved" for a man.

Florence Bertocchio (screenshot Le Journal du Dimanche video report)

When Maurice was made aware of the "mistake" he said correcting it would just be a matter of "moving things around a little" - in other words shifting Bertocchio one position up the list and dropping another woman and bringing in an extra man.

"It's really a chance for us to emphasise how our list is the most diverse," he said.

"It's one that includes men, women, gays and trans."


VidéoVilles : Florence Bertocchio, candidate et... par lejdd

Local elections in France - Sandrine Cocureau, a woman of extremes?

Most political pundits in France will tell you that the upcoming local elections could be marked by voter apathy.

And then there are also the stories circulating of just how difficult it is to get a list together in some places.

But the tale of Sandrine Cocureau bucks both those apparent trends because she appears to be someone desperate to be involved in local politics.

The only problem is, she doesn't seem to know what part of the political spectrum would best suit her.

The 43-year-old's name appeared on the list submitted by the far-right Front National (FN) in the town of Mérignac, a suburb of the city of Bordeaux.

Mairie de Mérignac (source - Wikipedia, author Erdrokan)

Cocureau's name appeared on the list submitted by the far-right Front National's candidate Jean-Luc Aupetit in the town of Mérignac, a suburb of the city of Bordeaux.

"She seemed to express ideas that were totally in keeping with the Front National's philosophy," said Aupetit about the first meeting with Cocureau at a market back in June 2013.

"We talked for a while and she agreed to figure provisionally on the list: a decision she confirmed in December."

All well and good. Except Cocureau didn't stop there.

Because at the same time as she was agreeing to be on the FN's list, she was also accepting to be on that of Guillaume Perchet, the candidate for the far-left Lutte ouvrière (LO)!

"She didn't come to us by chance," claimed Perchet. "She genuinely seemed to want to help the voice of the working class be heard."

Cocureau's rather weird "dual alliance" came to light when both lists were submitted for official scrutiny to the préfecture of the département of Gironde in mid-February.

And, not surprisingly, when it came to light that her name appeared on two lists, both parties withdrew her and quickly found replacements.

"There was no way we could keep her (on our list)," said Aupetit. "She was clearly trying to make a fool of us, perhaps in an attempt to have our candidacy invalidated."

"We decided by mutual agreement not to include her on either list," responded Perchet, suggesting that it might also have been a pre-election "trick" dreamed up by the FN.

Local elections in France - Ungersheim, a family affair, but maybe not what you think

It's no great secret that in many villages and towns across France, when a mayor retires someone from the family or a serving member of the council (or perhaps both) is likely to stand in his or her place.

Yep, handing down the sash from one generation to the next, especially in small communities, is not unheard of.

And in the village of Ungersheim (population around 2,000) in the Haut-Rhin département of the Alsace region, something along those lines is happening...but with a difference.

You see, in the upcoming local elections the current mayor, Jean-Claude Mensch, who has only been in the job for the past 25 years, has no intention of retiring and is, obviously, seeking another term in office.

But going up against the 67-year-old is none other than his estranged daughter, Catherine Muller.

Catherine Muller (screenshot from Alsace 20 TV report on "Ungersheim demain" list Facebook page)

The two apparently haven't spoken for the best part of 15 years but, insists Muller, that hasn't influenced her decision to stand and there's nothing of a family grudge match about the battle to become mayor.

"I've managed to ignore the fact that the current mayor is my father (right, we believe you)," says Muller who agreed to head the opposition list, which is not affiliated to any political party, when the former candidate died in an accident a couple of months ago.

"My father and I haven't been in touch for 15 years so it's no longer a question of being 'in conflict' with him (???)," she added.

"At some point you just have to (don't groan) 'turn the page' (so very French) and there's no reason why family ties should prevent me from becoming a candidate."

That sort of explanation is as lucid as those the 45-year-old gives about why she wants to stand and what she represents.

"I do not want to criticise him - the current mayor - (oh really? what sort of campaign are you going to lead then?) as he has done some very good things," she admits.

"But we want to inject a dynamic that isn't there. Some things must change."

Jean-Claude Mensch (screenshot BFM TV)

Mensch has remained "stumm" about his feelings towards his daughter's decision to stand.

But what of his record - and yes he has been a long time in office - with it's apparent "lack of dynamic"?

Well, Mensch isn't affiliated to any particular political party either, but he has followed a very Green policy over the years - so much so that Ungersheim regularly makes the news for projects that illustrate how the world could be "post-petrol".

Those schemes include the installation of wood burners, solar panels, a "100% organic" canteen and the creation of green spaces without using pesticides.

Very "old hat" and totally out of touch with the modern world, don't you think?

Noyon - Not such brotherly love in the French local elections

The local elections (yes, sorry about this, but...) are just under one month away.

And while the attention - well that of the national media at least - might be focused on the battles in France's big cities such as Paris, Marseille and Lyon, there are also some pretty interesting things (honestly guv) going on elsewhere.

Take, for example, what has all the potential to turn into a family feud (actually, it already has) in the northern town of Noyon.

The current mayor - the Socialist party's Patrick Deguise - is seeking re-election. No surprise there perhaps as French politicians at a local level seem to love staying in office for as long as possible.

Besides, Deguise has only had one six-year term in office in Noyon.

But, in an act of very unbrotherly love, the main opposition centre-right Union pour un Mouvement Populaire (Union for a Popular Movement, UMP) has found the ideal candidate to oppose Deguise - and quite possibly, in the process, confuse voters.

His older brother, Gérard.

Deguise versus Deguise with the far-right Front National's Michel Guiniot thrown in for good measure to the siblings' strife.

Patrick Deguise (left) and Gérard Deguise (montage of screenshots from Courrier picard interviews, September 2013)

And there's clearly little love lost between the two brothers.

Back in the last local elections (2008) the 66-year-old Deguise (Gérard) was third on the UMP's list for Noyon, a town in which he had been an elected councillor for almost two decades.

But along came 58-year-old Patrick, who had been mayor of a neighbouring village of Pont-l'Evêque, to win a traditionally centre-right town hall and simultaneously earn the wrath of his brother who seemed convinced his own "notoriety" had helped his younger brother woo "confused" voters.

'When you slog your guts out for a town for 19 years and then your brother comes along and effectively 'fires' you, it's impossible to take it well," said Deguise (Gérard).

"We used to be a very united family with definite values, but obviously the job of mayor of Pont-l'Evêque (population 803) wasn't enough for him," he added.

Determined to teach his younger brother a lesson, Gérard has decided to stand not just as a councillor, but also as mayor this time around.

It's a decision which doesn't actually amuse Patrick but rather shows that, as far as he's concerned, his brother has "an inflated ego".

"Gérard is in denial," he said. "He embodies the past and it's now too late for him."

Family get togethers must be somewhat less than fun.

Mind you, it could have been worse.

There was a rumour (unfounded apparently) at one point that another brother, 57-year-old Alain, who used to be a member of the UMP but is now a supporter of (gaullist and souverainist) Nicolas Dupont-Aignan, was thinking about putting together a list.