2009 Hénin-Beaumont mayoral by-election

There was a by-election in France for the municipality of Hénin-Beaumont held on 8 July. It was triggered after the mayor, Gérard Dalongeville, was convicted for embezzlement of public funds, corruption, forgery in private writing, favoritism and conceal of favoritism.[1] The election was notable due to the fact that Steeve Briois, a Front National councillor for the town made it to the second round where he was eventually beaten by a coalition against FN. Steeve Briois was eventually elected mayor in 2014.[2]

28 June and 5 July
  Steeve Briois
Candidate Daniel Duquenne Steeve Briois
Party DVG FN
Popular vote 6,054 5,504
Percentage 52.3% 47.6%
Mayor before election

Gérard Dalongeville
PS

 Elected Mayor

Daniel Duquenne
DVG

Background

In the 2008 municipal elections, Parti Socialiste candidate, Gérard Dalongeville got 44.30% in the first round followed by Steeve Briois with 28.48%[3] Daniel Duquenne got 19.23% in 2008.[4]

Only a year later on 7 March 2009, Gérard Dalongeville was placed in custody in Lille under claims that he had committed embezzlement and as the case developed, he was suspended from PS on 21 April[5] and then on 27 April was suspended as mayor.[6]

First round

In the first round, there were 9 candidates standing for Mayor with Steeve Briois[7] and Daniel Duquenne appearing as the front runners after a poll from La Voix du Nord shown that Steeve Briois had 35% of the vote, an increase of 7% from 2008 and Daniel Duquenne close behind[8]

On the night of 28 June, the Front National came in 39% of the vote, an 11% increase from 2008 and 800 more votes.[9] This was followed by Daniel Duquenne and Pierre Ferrari, who obtained 20.19% and 17.01% respectively.[10] After the FN got into the second round, numerous mainstream politicians called for citizens of Hénin-Beaumont to vote against Steeve Briois. This included Hervé Morin, Xavier Bertrand,[11] Valérie Pécresse and Jean-François Copé.[12] In reaction to the UMP endorsement of Duquenne, Briois said "It's like the cherry on top".[13]

French actor, Dany Boon called for people to vote against FN saying that "the National Front conveys ideas to the opposite of the Nord-Pas de Calais"[14] To this statement, Marine Le Pen replied saying that he was a good actor but he didn't understand the situation of the people in Hénin-Beaumont.

Second round

As the second round started, candidate for the PS and Modem offered Pierre Ferrari to ally with Daniel Duquenne, Duquenne refused and after realizing the endorsements were in Duquenne's favor, he dropped out of the race.[15]

On 5 July 2009, Daniel Duquenne won the election with 6,054 votes or 52.38% where Steeve Briois who obtained 5,504 votes or 47.62% came second. Following this defeat, Marine Le Pen said "there are defeats that are extremely honorable and this one of them."[16]

Results
Candidate Party First Round Second Round Seats
Votes % Votes % Number %
Steeve Briois FN 4,485 39.33 5,504 47.62

8

 22,86
Daniel Duquenne DVG 2,303 20.20 6,054 52.38

27

 77,14
Pierre Ferrari PS-MoDem 1,940 17,01
Régine Calzia Les Verts 971 8,52
Pierre Darchicourt DVG 603 5,29
Nesrédine Ramdani UMP 495 4,34
Séverine Duval NPA 276 2,42
Laurent Bocquet DVD 237 2,08
Jean-Marie Monka DVG 93 0,82
Registered Voters 19,333 100,0 19,333 100,0
Abstentions 7,704 39,80 7 274 37,62
Votes 11,629 60,20 12,059 62,38
Blank Votes 226 1,20 501 2,60
Turnout 11,403 59,00 11,558 59,78

References
  1. "Gérard Dalongeville condamné à trois ans de prison ferme". Le Monde (in French). 19 August 2013. ISSN 1950-6244. Retrieved 30 April 2017.
  2. "Hénin-Beaumont : premier conseil mouvementé pour Steve Briois". L'Obs (in French). Retrieved 30 April 2017.
  3. magazine, Le Point. "Archives - Le Point.fr". Le Point.fr (in French). Retrieved 30 April 2017.
  4. "France Info - Chroniques". Archived from the original on 3 December 2008. Retrieved 30 April 2017.
  5. "Le cas Dalongeville continue d'embarrasser". 20minutes.fr. 22 April 2009. Retrieved 30 April 2017.
  6. magazine, Le Point. "Archives - Le Point.fr". Le Point.fr (in French). Retrieved 30 April 2017.
  7. "Votre radio d'opinions : émissions politiques et de société". Archived from the original on 24 February 2011. Retrieved 30 April 2017.
  8. "Votre radio d'opinions : émissions politiques et de société". Archived from the original on 24 February 2011. Retrieved 30 April 2017.
  9. "Une marée frontiste sur Hénin-Beaumont". 20minutes.fr. 29 June 2009. Retrieved 30 April 2017.
  10. "Hénin-Beaumont : le FN en tête avec 39,34% des voix". Le Figaro (in French). 28 June 2009. ISSN 0182-5852. Retrieved 30 April 2017.
  11. "Les Echos.fr - Actualité économique, financière". lesechos.fr (in French). Retrieved 30 April 2017.
  12. "UMP : Copé veut faire barrage au FN à Hénin-Beaumont - Podcast - LCI". Archived from the original on 2 July 2009. Retrieved 30 April 2017.
  13. "Et pendant ce temps-là, au Front national... - la Voix du Nord". Archived from the original on 6 September 2012. Retrieved 30 April 2017.
  14. "Dany Boon calls on people to vote against FN". Tempsreel.nouvelobs.com. 2009. Archived from the original on 26 July 2014.
  15. "Contre le FN, une gauche laborieuse à Hénin-Beaumont". Libération.fr (in French). Retrieved 30 April 2017.
  16. ""Un petit goût de victoire" malgré la défaite, pour Marine Le Pen". Le Monde (in French). 6 July 2009. ISSN 1950-6244. Retrieved 30 April 2017.
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