The Angers socialists have not yet put with their municipal defeat

Les socialistes angevins se sont retrouvés pour la première fois depuis la défaite de leurs leaders aux élections municipales d'Angers. Si les sujets qui fâchent ne manquaient pas, leur secrétaire général, Grégory Blanc, a réussi à sauver les apparences et à préserver l'unité des militants. Ceux-ci ont cependant adopté une feuille de route appelant à des changements dans le projet politique et dans les modes de fonctionnement interne. Les problèmes restent donc entiers.

Grégory Blanc

A fortnight after their leaders have been defeated at the municipal elections, and so loose the 37 years of Angers city governance, the local members of he Parti socialiste (Ps) gathered on April 16th for first explanations. The meeting should have been tense given the scale of the electoral outcome because Frédéric Béatse, the outgoing mayor, was left behind his challenger, then new mayor, Christophe Béchu by nearly 10 points, while that one was ahead in a large majority of Angers polling stations.

The consequencies of the split between Mr. Béatse and his left rival, Jean-Luc Rotureau, inside the former city council majority as the lack of support from the Angers Ps general secretary, Grégory Blanc, in favor of the former mayor, were said to be some of the topics due to be discussed, let alone the deafening statements about "feudal behaviours" inside the party from the former Bouchemaine socialist mayor, also ousted, Anne-Sophie Hocquet de Lajartre...

Frédéric Béatse

In spite of those difficult conditions, it seems that the Maine-et-Loire socialist leader, Mr. Blanc, succeeded in keeping up appearances and to save the unity of the department members. That doesn't nevertheless mean that changes are out of question. In a press release, the Angevins socialists pointed out that "carrying on and speeding up the renovation work already begun. Reformation of the project, renovation of our methods of work... here is our roadmap".

But such an evolution could be annihilated as long as the French socialist government will not reverse its drop in opinion polls, itself due to its lack of results on issues people consider as major : growth and unemployment. At the national level, the socialists have just choosen a new leader who will need some time to refresh the movement after the municipal stunning defeat. The start of the "self-examination" wished by Grégory Blanc could so be delayed for months, and their results for more time...