Bally Bagayoko

Bally Bagayoko (born 31 July 1973) is a French politician and member of La France Insoumise (LFI). He was elected mayor of Saint-Denis in the 2026 French municipal elections, winning in the first round with 50.77% of the vote.^[1] Saint-Denis, which merged with Pierrefitte-sur-Seine in early 2025, is the most populous commune in Île-de-France after Paris, with approximately 150,000 inhabitants, making it the largest city in France governed by La France Insoumise and the first city of over 100,000 inhabitants won by the party.^[2][3]

Bagayoko was born on 31 July 1973 in Levallois-Perret, Hauts-de-Seine.^[4] His parents were of Malian origin, from the village of Gouni in the Koulikoro Region, on the right bank of the Niger River.^[5] He arrived in France at the age of five and grew up in the working-class neighbourhoods and social housing of northern Saint-Denis, in a large family he has described as "numerous and happy".^[6][7] He has described his childhood as "shaped by public services and mutual aid".^[8] At the age of 15, he began working as a market vendor at the Saint-Denis town-centre market, a place he has described as "the economic hub of the city" and a foundational reference point in his identity.^[9][10]

He holds a maîtrise (master's degree) in Sciences et Techniques de la connaissance des banlieues (Science and Techniques of the Knowledge of Suburbs) and a DESS in geopolitics, both from Paris 8 University.^[4][11] He began his political engagement through SOS Racisme and the UNEF-ID student union.^[12] He was also involved in associative activities related to UNESCO.^[13]

Bagayoko is a passionate basketball player who played at departmental, then regional, and finally semi-professional level.^[4] He obtained the French state coaching diploma (diplôme d'État d'entraîneur de basket-ball) and became head coach of the Saint-Denis Union Sport basketball club, which he led from the departmental level to Nationale 3 in fewer than five years.^[8] It was through his involvement with the club that he was noticed by Patrick Braouezec, then Communist mayor of Saint-Denis, who described him as "a very involved young man" in the city's sporting life.^[6][5] In his final campaign clip for the 2026 election, Bagayoko filmed himself scoring a spectacular basket with his back to the backboard.^[8][14]

Bagayoko works as a manager (cadre) at the RATP, the public transport operator for the Paris region.^[4][3]

Bagayoko entered politics in 2001 when he was approached by Patrick Braouezec, then Communist mayor of Saint-Denis, to join the municipal team.^[4][3] He was elected and initially served as deputy mayor (adjoint au maire) in charge of communication and the development of information technologies.^[11] He subsequently held delegations for sports, youth, major events, employment, training and social integration.^[10][3] Although never a member of the French Communist Party (PCF), he served as an apparenté (affiliated) representative for nearly a decade.^[8]

In March 2008, Bagayoko was elected to the Seine-Saint-Denis general council (conseil général) for the canton of Saint-Denis-Nord-Est, with PCF support.^[10][12][11] He was subsequently appointed vice-president of the departmental council, responsible for urban services and new technologies.^[12][7] He was re-elected in the 2011 cantonal elections, after which his delegation shifted to childhood and family affairs and digital development (aménagement numérique).^[11] He sat in the Front de Gauche group on the council, alongside other vice-presidents such as Azzedine Taïbi and Josiane Bernard.^[11]

In the 2015 departmental elections, under the new binomial system, Bagayoko ran in a pair with Florence Haye (Front de Gauche) in the canton of Saint-Denis-1. They finished second in the first round with 31.02% of the vote, behind the PS-EELV pair of Nadège Grosbois and Mathieu Hanotin who received 32.69%.^[15] The pair lost in the second round, ending Bagayoko's departmental mandate.

In 2012, Bagayoko joined Jean-Luc Mélenchon's Front de Gauche, marking what he described as an ideological shift.^[8][4] He subsequently became the local action group organiser (animateur du groupe d'action) of La France Insoumise in Saint-Denis when the movement was founded in 2016.^[4] According to LFI deputy Éric Coquerel, Bagayoko was "one of the first associates of the Communists to join us in 2017".^[3] Within LFI, he served as head of the party in Saint-Denis, co-delegate for the Sport policy booklet, and co-delegate for inter-party relations in Seine-Saint-Denis.^[16]

In October 2018, Philippe Caro, a Saint-Denis municipal councillor, drew attention to Bagayoko's declaration to the High Authority for Transparency in Public Life (HATVP), which showed total annual income of €112,769 at the start of the 2014–2020 term. This included his salary as an RATP manager (€51,447), his allowance as vice-president of the Seine-Saint-Denis departmental council (€45,500) and his deputy mayor's allowance in Saint-Denis (€15,822), with over 54% of the total coming from elected mandates. Caro also criticised Bagayoko for voting in June 2015 in favour of an increase in municipal councillors' allowances, which nearly doubled his own.^[17]

For the 2020 municipal elections in Saint-Denis, Bagayoko ran as head of the LFI list "Faire Saint-Denis en commun".^[10] He placed third with approximately 18% of the vote in the first round and withdrew before the second round in accordance with his party's agreement.^[3][8] Mathieu Hanotin of the Socialist Party won the election, ending 75 years of Communist governance in the city.^[18] The 2020 election was marked by historically low turnout due to the COVID-19 pandemic, with participation at just 32.52% in Saint-Denis; Hanotin won with only 8,604 votes.^[3]

Despite the defeat, Bagayoko remained active in the city's neighbourhoods, associations and sports halls throughout the 2020–2026 term.^[8]

On 3 December 2025, La France Insoumise, the PCF and the local collective Seine-Saint-Denis au Cœur announced they would form a united list for the 2026 municipal elections, headed by Bagayoko and called "Ensemble, retrouvons l'espoir!" (Together, let's rediscover hope!).^[12][19] The list was also supported by Les Radicaux de Gauche, PEPS (Pour une Écologie Populaire et Sociale) and Les Verts Populaires, as well as deputies Éric Coquerel and Stéphane Peu.^[12][20] A final rally was held on 10 March 2026 in the presence of Coquerel, Peu, and Jean-Luc Mélenchon.^[20]

Bagayoko described the alliance as a matter of "coherence", stating he could have run alone but preferred to "avoid divisions".^[3] The programme, containing 250 measures, was developed through public meetings, door-to-door canvassing and apartment gatherings, as well as consultations with associations, trade unions and citizen collectives.^[21]

Key proposals in the programme included a "purchasing power package" (bouquet pouvoir d'achat) featuring the control of rents and charges within Plaine Commune Habitat, the offer of a bicycle to every pupil completing collège (lower secondary school), a back-to-school kit for primary school children including free school supplies, a library card and an annual Imagine R transport pass, as well as the goal of 50–60% public housing in new construction.^[21][22]

On security, Bagayoko proposed refocusing the municipal police on community policing (police de proximité) rather than intervention operations, while maintaining staffing levels. He stated he was "not opposed" to some officers being armed, but rejected the blanket arming of the entire force, arguing that combating drug trafficking was primarily the responsibility of the national police.^[22]

The merger of Saint-Denis and Pierrefitte-sur-Seine, which took effect on 1 January 2025 under Hanotin's administration, was a central campaign issue. Bagayoko pledged to consult residents on a possible reversal, promising to "give back their sovereignty to the inhabitants".^[18][12]

The campaign was marked by significant tensions between the two main candidates. Hanotin's camp accused Bagayoko of having links with drug traffickers, claiming that municipal police officers had overheard dealers saying they would vote for the LFI candidate because of his plans to change the municipal police's mandate. Bagayoko denied the allegations and filed a defamation lawsuit.^[23][3] His list denounced the accusations as "class contempt and above all racism".^[3]

Bagayoko's campaign also criticised Hanotin's record, accusing the outgoing mayor of pursuing a policy of gentrification, calling him an "estate agent" (agent immobilier) who had left behind "a city sold off and disfigured".^[6] Jean-Luc Mélenchon described Hanotin at a campaign rally as a petit bourgeois visqueux ("slimy petty bourgeois").^[6]

On election day, both sides accused each other of irregularities. Bagayoko's list alleged that Hanotin used municipal resources, including video surveillance and the municipal police, to interfere with the vote. Hanotin's side accused the opposing camp of systematically tearing down campaign posters, issuing death threats against candidates, and organising gatherings in neighbourhoods to drive voters to the polls, which they reported to bailiffs (huissiers).^[1][24] Bagayoko's team denied organising these mobilisations and argued that the deployment of bailiffs served only to intimidate young voters in working-class neighbourhoods.^[24]

Bagayoko won the election on 15 March 2026 in the first round with 50.77% of the vote (13,506 votes), defeating the incumbent mayor Mathieu Hanotin, who received 32.70% (8,698 votes).^[1][25] The other lists obtained: Révolution Permanente (Elsa Marcel), 7.12% (1,894 votes); Horizons/right-centre (Pascal Kouppé de Kermatin), 3.54% (942 votes); Lutte Ouvrière (Agnès Renaud), 1.50% (400 votes); and a smaller far-left list (Jérémie Daire), 0.91% (241 votes).^[25]

Under the special regime for communes nouvelles (new municipalities), the council comprised 59 seats rather than the standard 55 for a city of this population range. Bagayoko's list won 47 of those seats due to the majority bonus for first-round victories.^[26]

Turnout stood at 42.84%, corresponding to 57.16% abstention, significantly higher than the national average of 56% but an improvement over 2020 (32.52% participation). Bagayoko received 13,506 votes out of approximately 64,000 registered voters; by comparison, Hanotin had won in 2020 with only 8,604 votes, and his predecessor Didier Paillard had won in 2014 with 9,209.^[3]

At the hôtel de ville, results were announced bureau by bureau to a packed salle des mariages transformed into an election-night headquarters. As it became clear that Bagayoko would clear the 50% threshold, the crowd chanted slogans including "Ici c'est Bally!" and "Hanotin casse-toi, Saint-Denis n'est pas à toi".^[24][2] When Hanotin took the microphone to announce the results, he was met with sustained booing and required several minutes to make his way through the crowd; Bagayoko had to call for calm repeatedly.^[27] Celebrations continued until approximately 2:30 a.m.^[3]

Bagayoko celebrated the result as "a KO punch" and declared that the outcome represented "the defeat of six years of a security-driven mandate serving the gentrification of the city".^[2][3] In a communiqué published the following day, Hanotin acknowledged "the clarity of the results" and congratulated Bagayoko, while defending his record on public safety and the fight against substandard housing.^[3]

Bagayoko has emphasised the working-class and multicultural character of Saint-Denis, noting that approximately 150 nationalities are represented in the city.^[24] In his first interview as mayor on LCI, he quoted the Communist poet Jean Marcenac (or alternatively attributed to Paul Éluard or Fernand Grenier), describing Saint-Denis as "the city of dead kings and the living people" (la ville des rois morts et du peuple vivant).^[28]

He has described his political line as combining social justice with ecological transition, with ambitions to use environmental policy as a concrete lever for improving living conditions in a dense and unequal city, through greening initiatives, the fight against urban heat islands, and the renovation of public spaces.^[13]

In the days following his election, Bagayoko was the subject of a disinformation campaign originating from far-right figures on social media. During his election-night interview with Darius Rochebin on LCI, Bagayoko quoted the Marcenac formula about Saint-Denis being "the city of kings and the living people". Due to background noise during the live broadcast, a truncated and poorly audible clip was shared online by far-right commentators who alleged he had said "the city of Blacks" (la ville des Noirs) rather than "of kings" (des rois).^[28] The false claim was amplified by figures including Jean Messiha (whose post garnered over 700,000 views) and Gilbert Collard.^[28]

The fabricated quote was subsequently repeated on air by journalist Apolline de Malherbe during an interview on RMC on 17 March 2026. Bagayoko corrected her on the spot. De Malherbe later apologised publicly on X, stating that she had "misheard his words in the noise of the live link-up".^[28] The incident was also discussed on France 5's C ce soir, whose host Karim Rissouli subsequently apologised for not having corrected a guest who repeated the false quote, describing the episode as reflecting "a kind of racist impensé" in media coverage.^[28]

The controversy prompted reactions across the political spectrum. LFI deputy Clémence Guetté described the BFMTV interview as "nauseating, disgusting with contempt and racism". LFI national coordinator Manuel Bompard praised Bagayoko's "dignity" and denounced "the media pack relaying the worst racist slanders". Socialist senator Marie-Pierre de La Gontrie called the interview "unbearable in its contempt and latent racism", and former minister Ségolène Royal also denounced the questions as racist.^[29]

Bagayoko is married and has four children.^[4] He has kept his family life private; the name of his wife has never been made public. In interviews, he has stated with humour that his wife "has always known him as a militant".^[8]