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Marine Le Pen Rallies in Marseille for RN Hopeful as Payan Denounces an 'Anti‑Marseille' Agenda

The visit casts the municipal contest as a proving ground for the far right's broader ambitions.

Des manifestants de gauche protestent contre le RN et son candidat à la mairie de Marseille, Franck Allisio, à Marseille, le 16 janvier 2026
Marine Le Pen, présidente du groupe parlementaire du RN et Franck Allisio, candidat du RN à la mairie de Marseille, à Marseille, le 16 janvier 2026
Marine Le Pen (à droite), présidente du RN, et Franck Allisio, candidat RN à la mairie de Marseille, lors d'un meeting à Marseille, le 16 janvier 2026
Le maire sortant de Marseille, le divers gauche Benoît Payan, à Paris le 19 novembre 2025

Overview

  • Le Pen appeared as guest of honor at Franck Allisio's New Year event in Marseille, urging supporters to vote for change after what she called six years of left‑wing rule.
  • The 1,200‑seat auditorium near the Vélodrome was filled, an antifascist activist was escorted out, and roughly 500 opponents demonstrated outside under police supervision.
  • Mayor Benoît Payan reiterated that the RN is "anti‑Marseille" and attacked an RN‑backed amendment cutting €4.9 billion from the DGF, which he says would cost the city about €50 million.
  • Payan also condemned an Allisio campaign tract as racist and xenophobic, citing phrases such as "préférence algérienne" and alleged ties to "islamistes."
  • An Ipsos poll published this week shows Allisio and Payan tied at 30% ahead of the first round, with Martine Vassal at 23% and Sébastien Delogu at 14%.