On Sunday, Benoit Hamon easily won the presidential primary runoff to represent France's ruling Socialist Party in upcoming elections, beating more centrist former Prime Minister Manuel Valls 58 percent to 41 percent. Hamon, a former education minister, was the most left-leaning of the seven candidates in last week's first round, and he surged to frontrunner status by promising to champion a universal income for all French citizens, legalize marijuana, scrap a labor law pushed through by President Francois Hollande, and bring other political change. The Los Angeles Times calls Hamon "a Gallic Bernie Sanders," though he is only 49 and an actual socialist.
Hollande's deep unpopularity is expected to hurt the Socialists in the spring election, against center-right Republican Francois Fillon, far-right National Front candidate Marine Le Pen, and independent former Economy Minister Emmanuel Macron. Hamon urged other leftist parties to unite behind him.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
July 6 editorial cartoonsCartoons Sunday’s political cartoons include paying for school lunch by enlisting, and the banality of evil
-
5 biting editorial cartoons about 'Alligator Alcatraz'Cartoons Artists take on dangerous green things, historical precedent, and more
-
A journey into the deep past on beautiful ArranThe Week Recommends New Unesco Global Geopark played a 'key role' in the birth of modern geological science
-
Judge blocks Trump's asylum ban at US borderSpeed Read The president violated federal law by shutting down the US-Mexico border to asylum seekers, said the ruling
-
Thai court suspends prime minister over leaked callSpeed Read Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra has been suspended, pending an ethics investigation
-
Senate passes GOP megabill after Alaska side dealThe pivotal yes vote came from Sen. Lisa Murkowski, whose support was secured following negotiated side deals for her home state Alaska
-
Trump sues LA over immigration policiesSpeed Read He is suing over the city's sanctuary law, claiming it prevents local law enforcement from cooperating with federal immigration authorities
-
Obama, Bush and Bono eulogize USAID on final daySpeed Read The US Agency for International Development, a humanitarian organization, has been gutted by the Trump administration
-
The last words and final moments of 40 presidentsThe Explainer Some are eloquent quotes worthy of the holders of the highest office in the nation, and others... aren't
-
Senate advances GOP bill that costs more, cuts moreSpeed Read The bill would make giant cuts to Medicaid and food stamps, leaving 11.8 million fewer people with health coverage
-
Canadian man dies in ICE custodySpeed Read A Canadian citizen with permanent US residency died at a federal detention center in Miami
