France gears up for an election year defined by a fragmented left

To display this content from YouTube, you must enable advertisement tracking and audience measurement. One of your browser extensions seems to be blocking the video player from loading. To watch this content, you may need to disable it on this site. Cover image: Who is running in France's election? © France 24 06:01 Issued on: 31/08/2026 - 15:49 It's back-to-school week for France, and its politicians are no exception. With a year set to be dominated by a crucial presidential election, both the left and the right wing are hoping to get candidates that will stand a chance against far-right leader Marine Le Pen, who is currently topping the polls. But for now, the political spectrum remains fragmented. So, who is running so far? FRANCE 24's Clovis Casali tells us more. Keywords for this article