The former French Prime Minister, Manuel Valls, has failed to advance to the second round of the elections to obtain a seat in the French National Assembly for the 5th constituency that represents residents of Spain, Portugal, Andorra and Monaco.
Valls was a candidate for the French president’s party, La República en Marcha, but has been unseated by the deputy currently incumbent on this seat, Stéphane Vojetta, who has run for election as an independent, reports the French radio station France Info.
Vojetta has achieved 25.39% of the votes, behind the candidate of the New Popular Ecologist and Social Union (NUPES), Renaud Le Berre. Valls has been the third most voted candidate with just over 15% of votes.
“I take note of the results of the 5th constituency. First of all I want to thank the voters who have trusted me and also salute the commitment of my deputy, Thierry Burtin. Much is due to him for our good result in Portugal. Thanks also to my entire campaign team,” Valls posted on Twitter.
“Dissidence and division have sown confusion. I cannot ignore my result and that my candidacy has not convinced,” Valls acknowledged on Twitter. “An election is the moment of truth”, he has finished it.
Valls was Prime Minister during the Presidency of François Hollande and failed in his attempt to be a candidate for the Elysee in the 2017 elections.
That same year, he expressed his desire to be a candidate for LREM in the legislative elections, but he did not meet the criteria of the newly created party.
In 2018, he jumped to his native country, Spain, as a candidate for Mayor of Barcelona, where he formed an alliance with Ciudadanos and achieved just over 13% of the vote.
He resigned as a councilor in 2021 and since then he has periodically appeared in the political life of France, either as a supporter of The Republicans in the last regional elections or of Emmanuel Macron in the presidential ones.
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