Long Reads: Decoding the French Left w/ Sebastian Budgen (Part 1)
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Jacobin
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🗓️ 9 April 2026
⏱️ 36 minutes
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Summary
Two years ago, the French president Emmanuel Macron called snap elections for the National Assembly. The far right was widely expected to win and form a government for the first time since the fall of the Vichy regime, but things didn’t work out that way. The New Popular Front, a left-wing electoral alliance, won a surprise victory.
Sebastian Budgen, senior editor at Verso, joins Long Reads to discuss the state of the French left. Daniel and Sebastian look in particular at La France Insoumise, which has been one of the most successful parties of the radical left in any European country since the start of the decade.
This is a two-part interview. The first part is going to focus on events between the election in 2024 and the start of this year. In our next episode, we’ll be looking at this year’s election results and looking forward to the presidential contest in 2027.
Read the article from Politico that Daniel and Sebastian discuss in the interview: https://www.politico.eu/article/french-left-new-popular-front-alliance-uk-labour-party-raphael-glucksmann-jean-luc-melenchon-jeremy-corbyn/
Long Reads is a Jacobin podcast looking in-depth at political topics and thinkers, both contemporary and historical, with the magazine’s writers. Hosted by features editor Daniel Finn. Produced by Conor Gillies with music by Knxwledge.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Hello, you're very welcome to Long Reeds, a Jacobin podcast where we look in depth of political topics and thinkers. |
| 0:08.0 | My name is Daniel Finn and the features editor here at Jacobin and I'll be presenting the show. |
| 0:14.0 | Two years ago, the French president, Emmanuel Macron, called SNAP elections for the National Assembly. |
| 0:21.6 | The far right was widely expected to win and form a government for the first time since the fall of the Vichy regime in the 1940s. |
| 0:30.6 | Things didn't work out that way, as Channel 4 reported on election night. |
| 0:36.6 | For supporters of the left, this was more than an exit poll party. |
| 0:41.3 | It was personal. |
| 0:42.3 | Would their country still be their country when the countdown reached one? |
| 0:49.3 | A hastily put together block of left-wing parties came out on top. |
| 0:55.2 | The new popular front, named after the alliance formed to resist Nazism in the 30s, took |
| 1:00.7 | over 180 seats, beat the far-right national rally. |
| 1:05.1 | We finally did something we're proud of. |
| 1:13.6 | We're proud of France again. |
| 1:15.6 | Those ideas have disappeared. Our national motto lost its meaning. |
| 1:22.6 | Now we've got it back and it's a beautiful thing. |
| 1:25.6 | Across town at the national rally event just before 8pm, |
| 1:29.3 | fresh faces similar question, |
| 1:32.3 | will France become their country when the countdown reaches one? |
| 1:43.3 | The answer, no. |
| 1:45.0 | National rally came third behind Macron's centrist bloc who were down but not out. |
| 1:50.0 | The air went out of the room here, I have to say, when that result came in. |
| 1:54.0 | People here were expecting National Rally to do much better. |
... |
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