PARIS—Francois Hollande’s election as president in 2012 was supposed to herald a new dawn for French socialism after 17 years of right-wing rule, but by June his party could be struggling to survive.
Weeks before the start of an election to pick France’s next president, the ruling bloc is in tatters. Socialist Party (PS) nominee Benoit Hamon is floundering after adopting a hard-left program that alienated more moderate colleagues.
Polls put Hamon in a humiliating fifth place, behind the independent leftist Jean-Luc Melenchon whose charisma and similarly radical program have overshadowed Hamon’s message.
Party grandees, meanwhile, are jumping ship to back independent centrist Emmanuel Macron, Hollande’s former economy minister who is now favorite to win the presidency.
Macron is more palatable to party moderates who see Hamon’s policies as outdated and resent his refusal to defend the president’s legacy.
