Regional and presidential votes in next two years will test Europe Écologie-Les Verts’s claim of a ‘historic turning point’

Regional and presidential polls over the next two years will show whether the “green wave” that surged through a swath of big French cities earlier this summer heralded a fundamental redrawing of the country’s politics – or a transitory ripple.

In June’s municipal elections, Europe Écologie-Les Verts (EELV) – alone or at the head of leftwing majorities – held Grenoble, seized Annecy, Besançon, Bordeaux, Lyon, Poitiers and Strasbourg, and were part of winning coalitions in Paris and Marseille.