In France's municipal elections, 2027 presidential race looms large
National political context
Votes are being held in 35,000 villages, towns and cities across France.
The centre-left Socialist Party has been campaigning in 2,960 communes and vying for mayor in more than 1,300.In comparison, the far-right National Rally (Rassemblement national or RN) party is fielding its lists of candidates in around 600 different parts of France.
In many of the smaller communes th