Left The parties to the left of the PS were divided over their electoral strategy. On one side, the far-left and the
New Anticapitalist Party (NPA) refused to participate in an executive led by the PS; but the
French Communist Party (PCF) wished to continue its participation in a number of executives led by the PS. The PCF finally decided to continue the
Left Front with the
Left Party (PG), first tested in the 2009 European elections. These lists would be independent in the first round, but would support (or merge) with a Socialist-led list in the runoff on the condition that the centrist MoDem did not do likewise. Yet, the final decision on the matter was transferred to the regional party members. In 17 of 22 regions, members approved the decision of an expanded Left Front; but in five regions, PCF members opted for a first-round alliance with the PS. These regions were
Burgundy,
Champagne-Ardenne,
Lorraine,
Lower Normandy and
Brittany. In these regions, however, dissident Communists joined with the NPA and the PG to create independent lists for the first round. The NPA's members voted on the party's strategy in December, and the independence strategy of the majority received support from only 36.3% of members, with 31.5% voting to continue discussions with the PCF-PG in the aim of obtaining a deal, and 28.5% rejected all talks with the FG. Finally, the NPA's executive opted to support independent lists of the "left of the left" in all regions in the first round and agreed to 'technical fusions' with other left-wing lists in the runoff (such as Left Front lists), without agreeing to participate in regional executives. In 11 regions, the NPA fought alone, notably against Left Front lists. However, in three regions –
Languedoc-Roussillon,
Limousin and
Pays de la Loire, the NPA opted to support a Left Front list in the first round. Finally, in three of the five regions (except Brittany and Lorraine) where the PCF opted to support the PS in the first round, lists with the support of the PG were formed. Contrarily to 2004, when it ran common lists with the
LCR, the
Workers' Struggle was running independent lists in all regions in 2010. The
Socialist Party was not able to renew the unity of the left behind it by the first round like in 2004. It received some support from dissident ecologists, as well as the support of the
French Communist Party (PCF) in four regions (but not the support of the PCF's ally, the PG). It also had the support of the
Left Radical Party in all regions except Brittany. In
Poitou-Charentes,
Ségolène Royal integrated five MoDem candidates on her lists. All the party's incumbents, except for the controversial
Georges Frêche (already expelled from the party in 2005), were re-nominated. The PS, with
Hélène Mandroux, opposed Georges Frêche's list in
Languedoc-Roussillon.
Ecologists Strong from its excellent result in the European elections, the
Europe Ecology coalition was renewed around
the Greens and associated parties and movements. Europe Ecology ran independently in all regions, with the intention of supporting the left in runoffs. However, the party's ultimate goal would be to wrest control of a major region, such as
Île-de-France from the PS. The coalition's candidates included the researcher
Philippe Meirieu, magistrate
Laurence Vichnievsky, the rural activist
François Dufour or Augustin Legrand of the homeless' association
les Enfants de Don Quichotte. The
Independent Ecological Alliance (AEI), after winning 3.6% in the European elections, was running independent lists in 10 regions. The AEI had signed electoral deals with
Europe Ecology in
Alsace and
Midi-Pyrénées, and with the MoDem in
Auvergne,
Franche-Comté,
Pays de la Loire and
Poitou-Charentes.
Corinne Lepage's
Cap21, despite being a component of the MoDem, the party ended up supporting
Europe Ecology over the MoDem.
Centre After the deceiving result of the European elections,
François Bayrou's
MoDem decided to run autonomous lists in all regions by the first round but chose to clarify its runoff strategy only after the first round. However, due to Bayrou's strong opposition to
Nicolas Sarkozy, it was deemed unlikely that any MoDem lists would merge with UMP lists for the runoffs.
The Presidential Majority Nicolas Sarkozy was successful in his attempts to push for the unity of all the
Presidential Majority by the first round around the
Union for a Popular Movement (UMP) and its allies, notably the
New Centre and the
Movement for France. Three cabinet ministers and five secretaries of states were leading regional lists, and eight other cabinet members were present on the majority's lists. The
New Centre obtained the top candidacy in
Burgundy (with
François Sauvadet) and
Nord-Pas-de-Calais (with
Valérie Létard), but not in
Lower Normandy. Despite the right's relative unity, there was a number of small dissidents lists in a number of regions.
Far-right The
National Front ran lists in all metropolitan regions.
Jean-Marie Le Pen was a candidate in
Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur and his daughter
Marine Le Pen was a candidate in
Nord-Pas-de-Calais. In
Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, the ex-MPF and ex-FN mayor of
Orange Jacques Bompard was leading a list named "
Ligue du Sud", and there was a similar "
Ligue du midi" in
Languedoc-Roussillon. Furthermore, around the
Party of France or smaller dissident parties, there were a number of dissident far-right lists in some regions. ==Polling==