London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Wednesday, Jul 02, 2025

French left fights over ‘right to laziness’ and loses sight of its center

French left fights over ‘right to laziness’ and loses sight of its center

Relentless jockeying for disparate ideas within the French left mirrors similar tensions in the ideological bloc across the US, UK and other countries.

The French left has seldom been so united — and rarely so divided.

Five months after a new, left-wing parliamentary coalition arrived amid great fanfare in June, its parties are riven, between themselves and within themselves, by personal hatreds and ideological differences.

Topics of discord include “work” (Is paid employment a value of the left or the right?) and “red meat” (Are barbecues sexist and dangerous for the planet?). 

There are also questions of personal behavior and hypocrisy. A series of avowedly-feminist, male, left-wing leaders have been accused of violent or inappropriate attitudes towards women.

The quarrels may be disparate but they illuminate a single political battlefield — one that extends beyond France to the U.S., U.K. and other countries.

Can the 21st century left reconnect with the popular classes? Is left-wing politics doomed to become a hotchpotch of conflicting pressure groups for “middle-class causes” and racial minorities?

Three French parliamentarians — let’s call them “The Three R’s” — have emerged in recent months as eloquent standard-bearers for different approaches to the future of the left. All three have infuriated their colleagues.

The first is Sandrine Rousseau, 52, a Green deputy, who speaks passionately for “intersectionalism” — the belief that all social struggles, from feminism, to anti-racism, to ecology, are intertwined. She believes, amongst many other things, that work is a “right-wing value” and that the left and the Greens should campaign for a “right to laziness” and against possessions, prosperity and growth.

She appalled many people in her own Green party (Europe-Ecologie-Les Verts) in October when she revealed on live TV that a senior party colleague, and rival, had been accused of “psychological” abuse by his ex-partner.

The second “R” is Fabien Roussel, 53, leader of the French Communist Party, who defends the right of working people to eat “a good steak” and argues that the left should be the “party of work”, not the “party of welfare.”

He will hold a series of meetings across France this winter to preach his “traditional” views. His comments have annoyed other leftists but made him the most popular left-wing politician in France among people who vote right.

The third “R” is François Ruffin, 47, a journalist and filmmaker-turned-politician who sees himself as a “practical Socialist” — someone who wants to improve the lives of ordinary people, not an ideologue or theoretician.


François Ruffin sees himself as a “practical Socialist”

In his new book: “Je vous écris du front de la Somme” (“I am writing to you from the Somme battle-front”), he describes the alienation from left-wing politics of the working and middle-class people of his own constituency in Amiens, in the struggling Somme département of northern France.

The votes of provincial, outer-suburban, and blue-collar France — the heartlands of the Gilets Jaunes rebellion of 2018-19 — are being abandoned to the far right, Ruffin says.

La Gauche risks becoming a cacophonic alliance between “eco-bobos” ( the middle-class, urban left), and the multi-racial, inner suburbs.  

The provincial working class wants higher wages; the Greens want low, or no, growth. Blue-collar provincials want jobs; the radical Left seems more interested in defending the “rights” of welfare claimants. 

People, of all classes want security; the hard-teft La France Insoumise (France Unbowed) appears anti-police. Working people are fearful of immigration; they associate the left with defense of racial minorities.

Ruffin says that it is time to abandon the culture of permanent indignation within the pan-left coalition (Nouvelle Union Populaire Ecologique et Sociale or Nupes). The left must rebuild a culture of government.

“I believe with great passion in the values of feminism, ecology and anti-racism,” Ruffin says. “But we must not fall into the trap of being speaking only for the ecolo-bobos or only for the rural poor. We must find a way of speaking to everyone and finding a message of hope.”

It has been suggested that the charismatic Ruffin might be the man to succeed Jean-Luc Mélenchon (who will be 75 at the next presidential election) as the leader of La France Insoumise (LFI) and the radical left. Ruffin’s comments also suggest that his ambitions may be even greater, but his detractors see him as more of a maverick than LFI’s leading man in line to replace its firebrand leader.

He wants not only to heal the divisions within LFI and the broader Nupes left-green coalition. He wants to recapture the many moderate left voters who have fled to Emmanuel Macron since 2017. 

 He says that it’s time for the radical left to make its peace with the pro-European, pro-market, reformist center-left or “social democrats” (rude words to many hard-leftists). “I’m going to soc-demise myself,” says Ruffin, a politician with a sense of humor.

What his joke means, in practice, is unclear. Ruffin’s recent book is eloquent on the social, regional, ideological and generational differences which enfeeble the French left. It offers little on what a unifying left-wing program might contain.

Although he talks of “soc-demising” himself, he calls himself a “revolutionary reformist”. He remains stridently anti-European, anti-market and anti-big-business. These positions alienate the center-left voters who now back Macron; Ruffin’s talk of moving to the center alarms his colleagues on the purist-theoretical left.

Fabien Roussel is eyeing a possible post-Mélenchon, pan-left presidential “nomination” in 2027


Like Ruffin, the Communist leader, Fabien Roussel, is also eyeing a possible post-Mélenchon, pan-left presidential “nomination” in 2027. His comments on red meat and welfare resonate with blue-collar workers who have moved to the Far Right.

His views on work overlap with those of Ruffin but his personality is less appealing to the “Eco-bobo” wing of the left alliance. Like Ruffin, he offers little to the old pro-European center-left which may be homeless in 2027 (when Macron cannot run again). 

Sandrine Rousseau speaks of uniting all left wing and green causes but has become, to many, a one-woman symbol of priggish sectarianism. 

All three “R’s” are searching in their different ways for a left-green common-ground large enough to win national elections. None has shown much willingness to compromise on their own core beliefs or obsessions.

Compromise, like social democracy, has become a dirty word on the French left (unlike in Britain or Germany).

The French left, although nominally allied in a single coalition, remains a jumble of conflicting verities. 

François Ruffin says that he wants to find the center of this tactical and ideological maze. There may be no “center” left to find.

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Poland Implements Border Checks Amid Growing Migration Tensions
Political Dispute Escalates Between Trump and Musk
Emirates Airline Expands Market Share with New $20 Million Campaign
Amazon Reaches Milestone with Deployment of One Millionth Robot
US Senate Votes to Remove AI Regulation Moratorium from Domestic Policy Bill
Yulia Putintseva Calls for Spectator Ejection at Wimbledon Over Safety Concerns
Jury Deliberations in Diddy Trial Yield Partial Verdict in Serious Criminal Charges
House Oversight Committee Subpoenas Former Jill Biden Aide Amid Investigation into Alleged Concealment of President Biden's Cognitive Health
King Charles Plans Significant Role for Prince Harry in Coronation
Two Chinese Nationals Arrested for Espionage Activities Against U.S. Navy
Amazon Reaches Major Automation Milestone with Over One Million Robots
Extreme Heat Wave Sweeps Across Europe, Hitting Record Temperatures
Meta Announces Formation of Ambitious AI Unit, Meta Superintelligence Labs
Robots Compete in Football Tournament in China Amid Injuries
Trump Administration Considers Withdrawal of Funding for Hospitals Providing Gender Treatment to Minors
Texas Enacts Law Allowing Gold and Silver Transactions
China Unveils Miniature Insect-Like Surveillance Drone
OpenAI Secures Multimillion-Dollar AI Contracts with Pentagon, India, and Grab
Marc Marquez Claims Victory at Dutch Grand Prix Amidst Family Misfortune
Germany Votes to Suspend Family Reunification for Asylum Seekers
Elon Musk Critiques Senate Budget Proposal Over Job Losses and Strategic Risks
Los Angeles Riots ended with Federal Investigations into Funding
Budapest Pride Parade Draws 200,000 Participants Amid Government Ban
Southern Europe Experiences Extreme Heat
Xiaomi's YU7 SUV Launch Garners Record Pre-Orders Amid Market Challenges
Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sanchez's Lavish Wedding in Venice
Russia Launches Largest Air Assault on Ukraine Since Invasion
Education Secretary Announces Overhaul of Complaints System Amid Rising Parental Grievances
Massive Anti-Government Protests Erupt in Belgrade
Trump Ends Trade Talks with Canada Over Digital Services Tax
UK Government Softens Welfare Reform Plans Amid Labour Party Rebellion
Labour Faces Rebellion Over Disability Benefit Reforms Ahead of Key Vote
Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sánchez Host Lavish Wedding in Venice Amid Protests
Trump Asserts Readiness for Further Strikes on Iran Amid Nuclear Tensions
North Korea to Open New Beach Resort to Boost Tourism Economy
UK Labour Party Faces Internal Tensions Over Welfare Reforms
Andrew Cuomo Hints at Potential November Comeback Amid Democratic Primary Results
Curtis Sliwa Champions His Vision for New York City Amid Rising Crime Concerns
Federal Reserve Proposes Changes to Capital Rule Affecting Major Banks
EU TO HUNGARY: LET THEM PRIDE OR PREP FOR SHADE. ORBÁN TO EU: STAY IN YOUR LANE AND FIX YOUR OWN MESS.
Trump Escalates Criticism of Media Over Iran Strike Coverage
Trump Announces Upcoming US-Iran Meeting Amid Controversial Airstrikes
Trump Moves to Reshape Middle East Following Israel-Iran Conflict
Big Four Accounting Firms Fined in Exam Cheating Scandal
NATO Members Agree to 5% Defense Spending Target by 2035
Australia's Star Casino Secures $195 Million Rescue Package Amid Challenges
UK to Enhance Nuclear Capabilities with Acquisition of F-35A Fighter Jets
Russian Shadow Payments via Cryptocurrency Reach $9 Billion
Explosions Rock Doha as Iranian Missiles Target Qatar
“You Have 12 Hours to Flee”: Israeli Threat Campaign Targets Surviving Iranian Officials
×