2026 Metropolitan Council of Lyon election
15 March 2026 (first round)
22 March 2026 (second round) | |||||||||||||||||||||
All 150 members of the Metropolitan Council 76 seats needed for a majority | |||||||||||||||||||||
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The 2026 Lyon metropolitan election is scheduled for 15 and 22 March 2026 to elect the metropolitan council.
Background
The election dates were set by decree on 27 August 2025 for 15 March 2026 (first round) and 22 March 2026 (second round).[1][2][3]
Bruno Bernard, a member of The Ecologists (LE), was first elected as president of the Metropolis in 2020. LFI, that was part of his majority at the beginning, split away will support a candidate against Bernard, who is running for reelection. Cédric Van Styvendael was proposed as leading candidate of the Socialist Party (PS) for this election, although it remains unclear whether the PS will support Bernard or support a PS candidate. Véronique Sarselli and Sébastien Michel were both contenders for the nomination of The Republicans (LR), with the latter being supported by Laurent Wauquiez. Sarselli won the internal vote against Michel and became the official LR candidate for the office of president of the Metropolis.
Electoral system
The 2026 election will be the second direct elections to the Metropolitan Council of the Metropolis of Lyon. The election will take place in 14 constituencies featuring lists. To avoid a second round being held in a constituency, a list needs to obtain more than 50% of votes in the first round. Every list obtaining more than 10% can access the second round. Every list getting more than 5% can merge with a list that accessed the second round. The list getting first in the last round in a constituency gets 25% of the constituency seats, while the other 75% are given proportionately to each list that obtained more than 5% of the votes.[4]
Candidates
The Ecologists
- Bruno Bernard, incumbent President of the Metropolis
The Republicans
- Véronique Sarselli, Mayor of Sainte-Foy-lès-Lyon and Metropolitan Councillor
National Rally
Campaign
In November 2025, Jean-Michel Aulas, candidate for mayor of Lyon, publicly endorsed Véronique Sarselli as candidate for the Metropolis, after he has said he wanted to support lists in the Metropolis as well.
Polling
Results
| Candidate | Party | First round | Second round | Seats | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Votes | % | Votes | % | Nb. | +/- | |||
| Olivier Minoux | LO | |||||||
| Bruno Bernard | LE | |||||||
| Véronique Sarselli | LR | |||||||
| Tiffany Joncour | RN-UDR | |||||||
| Registered voters | 100,00 | 100,00 | ||||||
| Abstention | ||||||||
| Total votes | ||||||||
| Blank or invalid votes | ||||||||
| Valid votes | ||||||||
References
- ^ "What are the dates of the next elections?". Service-public.fr. Retrieved 28 August 2025.
- ^ "The municipal elections will take place on 15 and 22 March 2026, announces the government". France Info (in French). 27 August 2025.
- ^ "Decree No. 2025-848 of 27 August 2025 setting the date for the renewal of municipal and community councilors, metropolitan councilors of Lyon, and councilors of Paris, Lyon and Marseille, and summoning voters". Légifrance (in French). Retrieved 28 August 2025.
- ^ "Everything to understand about the 2026 municipal elections". Le Monde (in French). 7 March 2026. Retrieved 13 March 2026.