2026 Lyon municipal election
15 March 2026 (first round)
22 March 2026 (second round) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
All 73 members of the Municipal Council 37 seats needed for a majority | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The 2026 Lyon municipal election was held on 15 March 2026, with a runoff on 22 March, to elect the 73 members of the Municipal Council of Lyon, and the 9 arrondissement councils. The municipal council subsequently elected the Mayor of Lyon, while the arrondissement councils elected their respective mayors. This election followed the first term of Grégory Doucet, who had been in office since 2020 and sought reelection. The race was widely regarded as highly competitive, with Jean-Michel Aulas initially seen as the front-runner.
In the second round, Grégory Doucet was reelected mayor, securing a second term in office.
Background
The 2020 municipal elections were marked by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to a sharp decline in voter turnout. Participation in the first round fell from 56% in 2014 to 39% in 2020. The election resulted in the victory of Ecologist Grégory Doucet.
After leading in the first round, The Ecologists merged with all other left-wing parties in the second round, facing the candidates of La République en marche and The Republicans. This coalition secured an absolute majority of the vote and won seven of the nine arrondissement councils.
Ahead of the subsequent election, divisions emerged within the governing majority. Anaïs Belouassa-Cherifi, a member of La France Insoumise who had initially been part of Doucet’s majority, announced her candidacy against the incumbent mayor.
On the right, Pierre Oliver was initially selected as the candidate of The Republicans. However, an agreement was later reached between Jean-Michel Aulas, Oliver, and Laurent Wauquiez, under which The Republicans endorsed Aulas as their mayoral candidate, while he incorporated LR members into his list. Aulas also secured the support of Renaissance and Horizons.
The National Rally chose to support Alexandre Dupalais, a member of the Union of the Right for the Republic.
Electoral system
Under the 2025 PLM law, from 2026 onward, people cast two ballots, one for the Municipal Council of Lyon, and one for the arrondissement councils, each of which is presided over by a mayor.[1]
The election is conducted using a two-round list system with a majority bonus. A list that obtains an absolute majority in the first round is elected outright. If no list achieves a majority, a second round is held on the following Sunday. Lists that receive at least 10% of the vote in the first round may participate in the second round, while lists receiving between 5% and 10% may merge with qualifying lists.[2]
Arrondissement councils and the Municipal Council elect their mayors during the first plenary session. The mayor is chosen by majority vote in the first two rounds, or by plurality in the third round. In the event of a tie, the oldest candidate is elected.[3]
Candidates
The Ecologists
- Grégory Doucet, incumbent Mayor
Doucet is also supported by PS, PCF and PP.
Miscellaneous centre
- Jean-Michel Aulas, former president of Olympique Lyonnais
Aulas is also supported by LR, RE, HOR, UDI and MoDem.
La France Insoumise
Union of the Right for the Republic
- Alexandre Dupalais
Dupalais is also supported by RN.
Campaign
The campaign has been marked by the killing of Quentin Deranque, a far-right activist, who died on 14 February 2026 after being assaulted during clashes with antifascist militants on the sidelines of a conference by MEP Rima Hassan (LFI) at the Institut d'études politiques de Lyon.[4]
The incident prompted widespread reactions across the political spectrum, including from Emmanuel Macron.[5] Several mayoral candidates, including Jean-Michel Aulas, Alexandre Dupalais (RN), and Anaïs Belouassa-Cherifi (LFI), announced a temporary suspension of their campaigns following the news of his death.[6] Jean-Michel Aulas urged the incumbent mayor to display the deceased activist’s portrait on the façade of City Hall.[7] The main candidates also took part in several televised debates ahead of the first round. However, only one debate was attended by Jean-Michel Aulas, who was either replaced or declined to participate in the others.[8]
Between the first and second round the LFI merged its list with Doucet's.[9]
Polling
First round
| Polling firm | Fieldwork date | Sample size |
Briday LO |
Mizony NPA-R |
Belouassa-Cherifi LFI |
Doucet LE |
Perrin-Gilbert DVG |
Képénékian DVC |
Aulas DVD |
Dupalais UDR |
Others |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cluster17 | 16-19 Feb 2026 | 793 | 0.5% | 0.5% | 9% | 31% | 3% | 4% | 42% | 9% | 1% |
| Elabe | 11-19 Feb 2026 | 800 | 1% | 1% | 10% | 29% | 3% | 7% | 43% | 6% | — |
| OpinionWay | 11-18 Feb 2026 | 943 | <1% | <1% | 9% | 32% | 3% | 4% | 45% | 7% | — |
| Ifop | 3-16 Feb 2026 | 804 | <0.5 | 0.5 | 11% | 29% | 2.5% | 6% | 45% | 6% | — |
| OpinionWay | 9-13 Feb 2026 | 605 | 1% | <1% | 9% | 30% | 2% | 2% | 47% | 9% | — |
| Ipsos | 13-27 Jan 2026 | 603 | — | — | 8% | 30% | 4% | 5% | 44% | 8% | 1% |
| OpinionWay | 12-19 Jan 2026 | 605 | <1% | 3% | 8% | 25% | 3% | 4% | 47% | 10% | — |
| OpinionWay | 8-12 Dec 2025 | 600 | <1% | 2% | 9% | 25% | 4% | 4% | 46% | 10% | — |
| Ifop | 1-5 Nov 2025 | 809 | — | — | 9% | 27% | 4% | 7% | 47% | 6% | — |
| OpinionWay | 15-20 Oct 2025 | 602 | 1% | — | 10% | 24% | 7% | 3% | 47% | 8% | — |
| Verian | 17-30 Sep 2025 | 816 | — | — | 15% | 23% | 7% | — | 47% | 8% | — |
Second round
| Polling firm | Fieldwork date | Sample size |
Belouassa-Cherifi LFI |
Doucet LE |
Aulas DVD |
Dupalais UDR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Elabe | 11-19 Feb 2026 | 800 | 11% | 34% | 55% | — |
| — | 43% | 57% | — | |||
| OpinionWay | 11-18 Feb 2026 | 943 | — | 45% | 55% | — |
| Ifop | 3-16 Feb 2026 | 804 | — | 40% | 52% | 8% |
| — | 42% | 58% | — | |||
| OpinionWay | 9-13 Feb 2026 | 605 | — | 40% | 52% | 8% |
| — | 42% | 58% | — | |||
| OpinionWay | 12-19 Jan 2026 | 605 | — | 37% | 53% | 10% |
| OpinionWay | 8-12 Dec 2025 | 600 | — | 40% | 60% | — |
| Ifop | 1-5 Nov 2025 | 809 | — | 39% | 61% | — |
| Verian | 17-30 Sep 2025 | 816 | — | 39% | 61% | — |
Results
| Candidate | Party | First round | Second round | Seats | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Votes | % | Votes | % | Nb. | +/- | |||
| Grégory Doucet | LE-PS-PCF-PP-L'A-D!-G.s-GRS | 76,318 | 37.36% | 104,702 | 50,67% | 46 | −5 | |
| Anaïs Belouassa-Cherifi | LFI | 21,273 | 10.41% | |||||
| Jean-Michel Aulas | DVC-LR-RE-HOR-UDI-MoDem-LC-PA | 75,134 | 36.78% | 101,940 | 49,33% | 27 | +5 | |
| Alexandre Dupalais | UDR-RN-RPR | 14,451 | 7.07% | — | 0 | 0 | ||
| Nathalie Perrin-Gilbert | DVG-PRG-MRC-PP | 7,426 | 3.64% | 0 | 0 | |||
| Georges Képénékian | DVC-EQX-EC-Volt | 7,214 | 3.53% | 0 | 0 | |||
| Delphine Briday | LO | 1,082 | 0.53% | 0 | 0 | |||
| Raphaëlle Mizony | NPA-R | 1,041 | 0.51% | 0 | 0 | |||
| Michaël Jouteux | PT | 320 | 0.16% | 0 | 0 | |||
| Registered voters | 100,00 | 321,188 | 100,00 | |||||
| Abstention | 109,006 | 33,94 | ||||||
| Total votes | 212,182 | 66,06 | ||||||
| Blank or invalid votes | 5,540 | 2,61 | ||||||
| Valid votes | 206,642 | |||||||
Arrondissement mayors
| Arrondissement | Outgoing Mayor | Party | Elected Mayor | Party | Votes | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lyon | Grégory Doucet | LE | Grégory Doucet | LE | 50.67% | ||
| 1st | Yasmine Bouagga | LE | Yasmine Bouagga | LE | 68.79% | ||
| 2nd | Pierre Oliver | LR | Pierre Oliver | LR | 59.80% | ||
| 3rd | Marion Sessiecq | LE | Marion Sessiecq | LE | 52.48% | ||
| 4th | Rémi Zinck | LE | Rémi Zinck | LE | 55.19% | ||
| 5th | Nadine Georgel | LE | Thomas Rudigoz | RE | 50.38% | ||
| 6th | Pascal Blache* | HOR | Samuel Soulier | DVD | 51.50% | ||
| 7th | Fanny Dubot | LE | Fanny Dubot | LE | 62.76% | ||
| 8th | Olivier Berzane | LE | Olivier Berzane | LE | 49.97% | ||
| 9th | Anne Braibant* | LE | Emmanuel Giraud | PS | 51.32% | ||
| *not running for re-election | |||||||
Notes
- ^ Includes parties that ran separately in the 2020 election.
References
- ^ "New election rules spice up Paris, Marseille and Lyon mayor races". 23 February 2026. Retrieved 6 March 2026.
- ^ "Paris mayoral election: Sophia Chikirou hopes to capitalize on radical left's recent scores". 30 January 2026. Retrieved 6 March 2026.
- ^ "Version en vigueur depuis le 16 mars 2008".
- ^ "Arrests in French far-right activist murder case follow misinformation". euronews. 17 February 2026. Retrieved 20 February 2026.
- ^ "Mort de Quentin Deranque : Emmanuel Macron annonce une réunion du gouvernement sur "les groupes d'action violente"". Franceinfo (in French). 21 February 2026. Retrieved 24 March 2026.
- ^ "Municipales à Lyon: plusieurs candidats suspendent leur campagne après la mort de Quentin". BFM (in French). 15 February 2026. Retrieved 24 March 2026.
- ^ "Jean-Michel Aulas : "J'appelle le maire de Lyon à afficher le portrait de Quentin sur l'hôtel de ville"". actu.fr (in French). 19 February 2026. Retrieved 24 March 2026.
- ^ "Municipales à Lyon : "c'est juste une stratégie de fuite" Aulas refuse le débat face à Doucet à France 3 Rhône-Alpes". France 3 Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes (in French). 17 March 2026. Retrieved 24 March 2026.
- ^ By. "A Missed Opportunity for the French Left". jacobin.com. Retrieved 24 March 2026.