Early life, education, and early politics (1951–1976) Mélenchon was born in
Tangier (
Tangier International Zone), Morocco. His father, Georges, was a
postmaster of
Spanish descent, and his mother, Jeanine Bayona, was a primary school teacher of Spanish and
Sicilian descent. He grew up in
Morocco, until his family moved to France in 1962. Mélenchon was then educated at the
Lycée Pierre-Corneille, a state secondary school in
Rouen, Normandy. He graduated in 1972. Since the beginning of the 2010s, Jean-Luc Mélenchon has been in a relationship with
Sofia Chikirou, a member of his own party. His relationship with
Sophia Chikirou is considered an open secret She has been nicknamed "the boss's wife".
Socialist Mitterrandist leader (1976–1986) Mélenchon left
Besançon to enter professional life in
Lons-le-Saunier (
Jura), and joined the PS in September 1976. He was part of the
democratic socialist and left-wing of the PS. Mélenchon did not join the
French Communist Party (PCF) because of the latter's refusal to condemn the
Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1968 to end the
Prague Spring, an event that he said had significantly affected him in political terms, even more than the
protests of 1968, which occurred when he was still a university student and he became leader of the
student movement at the
University of Besançon, As a member of the PS, he soon assumed local and
departmental responsibilities (deputy section secretary of
Montaigu), and developed a federal newspaper that fought for a union between the PS and the PCF. It was at this time that the latter broke the agreements of the
union of the left on a joint program of government. He then came to the attention of Claude Germon, mayor of
Massy (
Essonne) and member of the executive office of the PS responsible for the business section. Without stable work after his application was rejected at the
Croix du Jura newspaper, he was hired by Claude Germon to become his
private secretary. Mélenchon became one of the leading Mitterrandist leaders of the Essonne federation, which led him to the position of first secretary of this federation at the
Valence Congress in 1981; he remained in this position until 1986. He positioned himself both against the "Second left" of
Michel Rocard and the Centre of Socialist Studies, Research, and Education (CERES) of
Jean-Pierre Chevènement. He was elected senator during the senatorials of 1986, and again in 1995 and 2004. A supporter of Mitterrand and left-wing
reformist socialism, Mélenchon presented two lectures about Mitterrand's presidency, "1981: The Revolution Suspended" and "A Complete Balance Sheet of François Mitterand's presidency". He saw Mitterand's win in 1981 as the end of a political process of which the main accelerator was "the ten million workers on strike" in the protests of 1968. He argued that the reforms introduced by Mitterrand were more wide-ranging than often recognised, citing the
nationalisation of dozens of banks electricity companies, engineering companies, and motorways, the doubling of the budget of the
Ministry of Culture, and increased taxes for the rich, and against the perceived betrayal on the part of Mitterrand and the other left-wing leaders. According to Mélenchon, the blame for the turn to
austerity rest on a lack of political courage, a lack of strategy on the left of the left, and a lack of mass mobilisation.
Socialist Party (1986–2008) He was elected senator in the 1986 French Senate elections.
From the Socialist Left to For the Social Republic (1988-2005) A founder, along with Julien Dray, of the Socialist Left in 1988, he opposed the open-door policy of François Mitterrand's second presidency, targeting Michel Rocard and the "soft left," as well as France's entry into the Gulf War (first Gulf War), against the majority of his party and President Thierry. At the 1990 Rennes Congress, where no motion reached 30%, the party's left wing was divided into four factions. Mélenchon led his own motion, which obtained 1.35% of the vote. In June 1990, he submitted a bill to the Senate for the creation of a civil partnership contract, a precursor to what would become the Civil Solidarity Pact (PACS) in 1999. In April 1992, he was defeated in the Massy-Ouest canton, which he had won in 1985: his 38.43% was insufficient compared to the 39.71% of the right-wing candidate, Vincent Delahaye. He attributes his defeat by to Guy Bonneau's (
Génération écologie) remaining in the second round. In 1992, he called for a vote in favour of the
Maastricht Treaty, which he considered a "left-wing compromise". In a speech to the Senate, he considers that the single currency is the major instrument that will allow Europe to be "carrier of civilization, culture, networks of solidarity" against the dollar, which. In this vein, he expressed regret over the Danish vote on the Maastricht Treaty, stating: "As cruel as it may be to hear, nations can be mistaken. Ours has already made a mistake, and we know the price that history has paid for missing the boat." and, along with the Socialist Left, submitted an amendment, entitled "Turning the page on Maastricht," to a 1996 Socialist Party convention. He later declared that the opponents of this treaty were right and that the stated objective at the time was a "total failure". A long-standing and stable faction, the Socialist Left presented its own motion at three Socialist Party congresses until its dissolution in 2002. It obtained scores ranging from 7.3% to 13.3% of the votes cast. Although a Mitterrand supporter, Mélenchon backed Michel Rocard's appointment as First Secretary of the Socialist Party in 1993, which allowed him to gain a leadership position within the party, as he became press secretary: "Rocard, who advocated consensus when he was Prime Minister, no longer speaks of an alliance with centrists but of an axis with socialists, communists, and ecologists. That's the change…". At the 1997 Brest Congress, Mélenchon ran for First Secretary of the Socialist Party (PS). The only opponent to François Hollande, he obtained 8.81% of the vote, a lower score than the Socialist Left motion, and he experienced this defeat as a humiliation. In 2009, he claimed that François Hollande had not kept his word to grant him a score of 15% as per their agreement and indicated that he had told him he would never forgive him. When Mélenchon and Hollande "rigged" an election. On April 22 and 23, 1998, he went against the party's position and was the only senator from the Socialist group to vote against the bill integrating the Bank of France into the European System of Central Banks and against the resolution on the transition to the euro. He asserted on this occasion that, faced with transnational capitalism, European economic integration gives the illusion of power, while in fact it is a means of confinement. Following this vote, he was sanctioned, along with five other parliamentarians, by the national bureau of the Socialist Party and received a letter of reprimand from the First Secretary, François Hollande. In the following months, Mélenchon and his colleagues in the Socialist Left opposed the Treaty of Amsterdam, which they criticized in particular for the lack of economic governance and the insufficient progress towards a social Europe. According to them, this treaty constitutes a threat to the French social model and can only lead to "serious social and economic risks, dangerous for democracy" During the ratification of the treaty in Congress on January 18, 1999, he was one of the five Socialist members of parliament to vote against the text. In March 2000, he agreed to participate in the Lionel Jospin government as Minister Delegate for Vocational Education under the Minister of National Education, Jack Lang, after having declined the positions of Secretary of State, Minister of State for Housing in 1997 He held this position until the 2002 French presidential election, which saw the Socialist Prime Minister, Lionel Jospin, eliminated in the first round. Following the electoral defeat of April 2002, when the faction led by Julien Dray chose to join François Hollande's team, Mélenchon co-founded the New World (Socialist Party) movement with Henri Emmanuelli. Their motion obtained 16.3% of the vote at the Dijon congress, a score equivalent to that of the New Socialist Party (2003), the other main left-wing faction within the party. After the "Yes" vote won in the internal referendum of the
Socialist Party on the
draft treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe, he broke with his party's instructions and campaigned alongside
Marie-George Buffet (French Communist Party|PCF)), Olivier Besancenot (Revolutionary Communist League|LCR) and José Bové (Peasant Confederation) at rallies for the "no" vote. The "no" campaign led to the split of the New World (Socialist Party)|New World: while Henri Emmanuelli created a new movement,
Socialist Alternative, Mélenchon created Trait d'union (TU)|Socialist Party|Trait d'union). At the same time, he founded the association Pour la République sociale (PRS), outside the Socialist Party, with the aim of formulating and promoting a Republican and anti-liberal Left orientation within the French left. PRS advocates for a new political force that takes into account both the failure of what was the Soviet model and the "dead end" of a European
social democracy accompanying the "reforms" of
neoliberalism He argues that the Socialist candidate for the 2007 French presidential election should be someone who supported the "no" vote in the referendum on the European Constitution, because, in his view, this deadline coincides with the European timetable for renegotiating the Constitutional Treaty, which should take effect in 2009. In this spirit, Mélenchon believes Laurent Fabius is the best-placed candidate for the 2007 presidential election.
Final Years in the Socialist Party (2005-2008) At the Le Mans congress in November 2005, the Socialist Party's "Trait d'union" (Trait d'union) submitted a contribution. Despite the consensus among its leaders on the European question, the left wing of the Socialist Party was divided. "Trait d'union" joined the motion led by Laurent Fabius and supported by Marie-Noëlle Lienemann, while the other leaders of the left wing rallied behind the motion presented by the New Socialist Party (NPS). The former obtained 21.2% of the vote, the latter 23.6%, while party members re-elected the outgoing majority of François Hollande (53%). In the context of the primary election held a year later within the Socialist Party (PS) to choose between the candidates for the Socialist nomination in the presidential election, Mélenchon again endorsed Laurent Fabius. In this regard, he declared in August 2005: Two days after the Socialist Party's nomination of Ségolène Royal, which he had opposed, he attended a meeting of the
anti-liberal left, leaving doubt about its possible support for his candidacy in the presidential election. After the failure of the
unity groups to unite behind a common candidate, he wrote on his blog, affirming his support for
Ségolène Royal:"A portion of the politically engaged left-wing electorate is becoming demobilized. They do not feel represented. A segment of the electorate, among those disheartened (by the harshness of life) — disoriented (by the absence of an intelligible radical political alternative), will continue to waver between disgusted indifference and bursts of blind electoral anger. Finally, the centrality of the Socialist candidacy on the left is now absolute, whether one likes it or not, because it seems to be the only effective way to achieve the most basic common program: to be present in the second round and defeat the right." The defeat of the latter in the second round of the presidential election, against the candidate of the Union for a Popular Movement (UMP), Nicolas Sarkozy, led him to criticize the former candidate's strategy very sharply, notably through his book "In Search of the Left". At the Reims congress in September 2008, Trait d'union submitted a new contribution. Calling for unity among all the left-wing factions of the Socialist Party, Mélenchon quickly reached an agreement with the Forces Militaires movement led by Marc Dolez, a member of parliament from northern France. However, the other factions, gathered around the New Socialist Party (2003) of Benoît Hamon and Henri Emmanuelli, hesitated for a long time between this strategy and supporting the motion led by Martine Aubry and Laurent Fabius. The day before the motions were to be submitted, an agreement was finally reached between the seven contributions from the left wing of the Socialist Party, and Mélenchon was among the signatories of motion C entitled "A world ahead", led by
Benoît Hamon He described this gathering as a historic event: this motion, in fact, brought together for the first time all the factions of the left wing of the Socialist Party, with emblematic figures of this tendency such as Gérard Filoche, Marie-Noëlle Lienemann, and Paul Quilès. On November 6, 2008, Socialist Party members voted to decide between the different motions. The motion supported by Ségolène Royal came in first with approximately 29% of the votes cast, while the one led by Benoît Hamon came in fourth with 18.5%. For Mélenchon, this was a victory for the outgoing majority, which won 80% of the votes, and among these votes, some advocate an alliance with the center. Feeling too far removed from this trend to the point that it was pointless to participate in the congress, Jean-Luc Mélenchon and Marc Dolez announced on November 7 their decision, out of loyalty to their commitments and in the interest of independent action, to leave the Socialist Party (France) and create a new movement uncompromising in its opposition to the right. They announce the construction of a new left-wing party, simply called the Left Party (on the German model of Die Linke), and call for the formation of a united front of left-wing forces for the European elections. On November 18, during a meeting with the French Communist Party, the two parties announced their alliance in the form of a partnership, within the framework of a Left Front for a different democratic and social Europe, against the ratification of the
Treaty of Lisbon and the current European treaties. The launch meeting of the Left Party was held on in
Saint-Ouen, in the presence of the co-president of Die Linke,
Oskar Lafontaine.
Departure from the Socialists and foundation of the Left Party (2008–2012) At the
Reims Congress in September 2008, the political current ''Trait d'union'', created after the victory of the "No" in the
2005 French European Constitution referendum, Mélenchon made a new contribution. On the eve of the filing of the motions, an agreement was reached between the seven contributions of the left wing of the PS, and Mélenchon was one of the signatories of Motion C entitled "A world ahead", led by
Benoît Hamon. For the first time, this motion brought together all the sensibilities of the left wing of the PS, with emblematic personalities like Gérard Filoche,
Marie-Noëlle Lienemann, and
Paul Quilès. He described this gathering as a "historic event". On 6 November 2008, the Socialist militants voted to decide between six motions. The motion supported by
Ségolène Royal led with about 29% of the votes cast, while the one led by Benoît Hamon came in fourth with 18.5%. For Mélenchon, this was a victory of the outgoing majority, which carried 80% of the votes (with the first three motions) including the motion advocating the alliance in the centre. Believing themselves too far from this trend to the point that it would not be useful to take part in the congress, Mélenchon, alongside
Marc Dolez, announced on 7 November their decision, "out of fidelity to their commitments", and for their independence of action, to leave the PS, and to create a new movement "without concession facing the right". They announced "the construction of a new left-wing party", simply called the
Left Party (on the German model of
Die Linke), and called for "the constitution of a left-wing front for the European elections". On 18 November, in a meeting with the PCF, the two parties announced their alliance in the form of a "partnership", within the framework of a "left front for another democratic and social Europe, against the ratification of the Treaty of Lisbon and the current European Treaties". The launch meeting of the Left Party was held on 29 November in Saint-Ouen, in the presence of Die Linke's co-chairman
Oskar Lafontaine. Mélenchon became the party president. Until 2014, he was also co-president alongside
Martine Billard.
First presidential candidacy (2012) A political outsider, He took fourth place and achieved 11.10% of the vote, trailing behind
François Hollande,
Nicolas Sarkozy, and
Marine Le Pen and their respective parties (the PS, the
Union for a Popular Movement, and the
National Front). In comparison, the winner, Hollande, received 28.63% of the vote. It was the first time the non-socialist left had registered a double figure result since
Georges Marchais in 1981. He received third place with 21.46% of the vote, narrowly edged out for second by Socialist Party member Phillip Kemel. Mélenchon decided not to stand in the second round of the election after this result.
Second presidential candidacy (2017) During the presidency of Hollande, Mélenchon became one of the most critical voices in the left against his centrist free-market policy, which he considered a betrayal of the culture and ideas of the
French left. During an interview on the French television channel
TF1 on 10 February 2016, Melenchon launched the left-wing political platform
La France Insoumise, without any expectation of victory. and the mayor of Grenoble,
Éric Piolle. According to political scientist Christopher Bickerton, La France Insoumise was comparable to
Podemos in Spain, and
Le Baron Noir character Michel Vidal is based on Mélenchon. La France Insoumise's broad range meant it ran, in the words of Bickerton, "from the remnants of the PCF's industrial working class votes to the vast majority of the country's Muslim population, as well as urbanised intellectuals and France’s many neo-ruralist converts". Hamon announced on TF1 on 27 February that he and Melenchon had been in talks to form an alliance but their stances on the European Union separated them, as Melenchon's platform was to renegotiate EU treaties or hold a referendum. France 24 reported: "Adding their scores would place a candidate in first or second place." Mélenchon, who saw himself as "outside the frame of political parties", held at a consistent 12% for most of the campaign, until a late upwards surge which put him just behind third place
François Fillon at 18%. This late surge is mainly due to Mélenchon's performance within the second presidential debate hosted by
BFM TV and
CNews, where, according to an Elabe poll, he was found the most convincing candidate by 25%; however, he did not qualify for the second round of voting, winning 19.6% of the vote in the first round, placing fourth. With seven million votes, La France Insoumise had achieved the biggest vote in France for the radical left since 1945; it achieved 24% among blue-collar voters, 22% among low-paid white-collar voters, and 30% among 18–24 year-olds. Following constant criticism for this choice, Mélenchon invited members of La France Insoumise to vote on who he will endorse with the choices being "Vote for Emmanuel Macron", "Blank Vote", or "Abstain", with the result being announced on 2 May. 36.12% submitted a blank vote, 34.83% chose to endorse Macron, and 29.05% abstained. His campaign positions included the intent to establish a
Sixth Republic and preserve the environment. According to the NGOs for the development aid
Action Against Hunger, Action santé mondiale,
CARE France, and
ONE Campaign, Mélenchon was the candidate in the presidential election who is the most engaged regarding international solidarity. Together with other French intellectuals, he vigorously denounces free trade between France and the United States as an example of global exploitation.
Member of the National Assembly (2017–2022) in 2017 In June 2017, Mélenchon became a member of the National Assembly for La France Insoumise following his win in the
legislative election in the
4th constituency of
Bouches-du-Rhône, which covers parts of the centre of
Marseille. He won 59.9% of the vote in the second round against
En Marche! candidate Corrine Versini. He defeated sitting member
Patrick Mennucci in the first round, a notable member of the
Socialist Party in Marseille. The collapse of the Socialist Party meant that La France Insoumise had become the
de facto opposition to
Emmanuel Macron in the
National Assembly. During the examination of the 2017 Labour Law bill, he was remarked in the National Assembly for his multiple interventions, defending the Labour Code
status quo along with fellow La France Insoumise members, arguing that flexibilisation would be harmful to workers. He drew attention from the media once more when he came in Parliament with a five-euros food shopping bag to denounce a student benefits cut planned by the government. In December 2019, Mélenchon received a suspended prison sentence of three months for rebellion and provocation following an altercation with police officers who had come to serve a warrant at the La France Insoumise headquarters in Paris.
Third presidential candidacy and NUPES (2022–2023) . Mélenchon was the most voted candidate in the red departments and territories Mélenchon was again a candidate in the
2022 French presidential election. He was one of three candidates placed without their consent on the ballot for the
2022 French People's Primary, a non-official vote for a common left-wing candidate; he came third out of seven, behind
Christiane Taubira and
Yannick Jadot. Taubira withdrew in March, and endorsed Mélenchon. Mélenchon's polling numbers surged in the final weeks of campaigning, putting him within chance of making the second round. In 2017, 21.4% had been enough to gain access to the second round. In turn, Macron denounced Mélenchon and the anti-neoliberal NUPES coalition as delusional anti-capitalists. According to political scientist Christopher Bickerton, observers commented that "the LFI's electoral offer was the most sophisticated of all the parties — a total of 694 proposals, from a sixth republic to 'rational' anti-terrorist legislation, to a commitment to the demilitarisation of space." and in the overseas departments of
Martinique,
Guadeloupe,
French Guiana,
Réunion,
Saint Pierre and Miquelon, and
Saint Martin, obtaining majorities in several of these jurisdictions. He also finished first in
Île-de-France. Mélenchon did not run for re-election in
Bouches-du-Rhône's 4th constituency, instead giving his candidacy to
Manuel Bompard. Mélenchon led the NUPES coalition since May 2022. In the 2022 legislative election, NUPES won 131 seats. Amid divisions, NUPES dissolved in 2023. == Political positions ==