Far-left presidential candidate Jean-Luc Mélenchon presents his policy platform at a key rally near Paris on Saturday. A polarising figure for the general electorate, he is nonetheless beloved among France's youth, who are drawn to his progressive policy proposals and say he empowers them to get more involved in politics.
Issued on: 07/11/2026
FRANCE24
By:
Gabrielle Nadler
Video by:
Gabrielle Nadler
Youth to the forefront
Much of Mélenchon’s left-wing platform proves popular among young French voters, notably its promises to fight climate change, redistribute wealth and stage a “citizen’s revolution” to encourage public participation in government.
“Mélenchon is the last revolutionary on the left, and this is what young people are aspiring to. They are frustrated, they have been frustrated for a long time,” said political scientist Thibault Muzergues.
Livia Jampy, a 25-year-old co-chair of the LFI youth group and a city council member in Montpellier, said the party takes the French youth's political concerns seriously. “People will use any excuse to claim that young people who support Mélenchon are illegitimate or that we don’t understand anything [the party is] doing,” said Jampy. “We understand very well what’s going on.”
Mélenchon and his party have made a conscious effort to empower their young base. The LFI’s youth group, Jeunes Insoumis.es, tries to reach voters online and in the streets. LFI also hosts an annual "summer university" for people under the age of 26 that this year included a meeting with Mélenchon himself.
'The system has not worked for us'
But Mélenchon remains controversial among France’s broader electorate. He has taken flack for encouraging the ongoing student protest movement, which at times has been marked by violence. His political adversaries have blamed his confrontational rhetoric for the civil unrest, with French President Emmanuel Macron saying the youth are being "exploited" by political forces. Since the October 7, 2023 attacks in Israel, he has also been regularly accused of anti-Semitism.
In his previous presidential run, Mélenchon was criticised for his perceived leniency towards Russia and pledging to leave NATO if elected.
Muzergues said young voters feel less concerned by these international issues, but are determined to see systemic reform in France. People “underestimate the radicality of this vote”, he added. “It is not a protest vote. It is a vote to say the system has not worked for us and needs to be changed. Not cosmetically, but profoundly.”
By:
Gabrielle Nadler
Video by:
Gabrielle Nadler
Cover image: Jean-Luc Melenchon (pictured left), leader of French far-left opposition party La France Insoumise (France Unbowed - LFI) and candidate for the 2027 French presidential election; alongside LFI member of parliament Manuel Bompard (pictured right) attend a demonstration organised by labour unions in Paris on October 24, 2026. © Abdul Saboor, Reuters
02:56
Crowds filled the streets of Paris as part of a nationwide general strike and new protests on November 5, just five months before France’s presidential election. Far-left presidential hopeful Jean-Luc Mélenchon’s silver hair and round-framed glasses were instantly recognisable in the crowd.
He has been pictured at several youth-driven demonstrations in recent months, sporting a wide smile, his fist raised. Mélenchon’s affinity for the young protesters appears to be mutual. The founder of the France Unbowed (La France Insoumise or LFI) party decidedly won the support of 18- to 34-year-olds in the 2022 presidential election. And recent polls suggest that in 2027 – with the youth predicted to be on his side – Mélenchon could make it to the election’s second and final round, to face off against far-right leader Marine Le Pen, who is leading the polls.
02:56
Crowds filled the streets of Paris as part of a nationwide general strike and new protests on November 5, just five months before France’s presidential election. Far-left presidential hopeful Jean-Luc Mélenchon’s silver hair and round-framed glasses were instantly recognisable in the crowd.
He has been pictured at several youth-driven demonstrations in recent months, sporting a wide smile, his fist raised. Mélenchon’s affinity for the young protesters appears to be mutual. The founder of the France Unbowed (La France Insoumise or LFI) party decidedly won the support of 18- to 34-year-olds in the 2022 presidential election. And recent polls suggest that in 2027 – with the youth predicted to be on his side – Mélenchon could make it to the election’s second and final round, to face off against far-right leader Marine Le Pen, who is leading the polls.
Youth to the forefront
Much of Mélenchon’s left-wing platform proves popular among young French voters, notably its promises to fight climate change, redistribute wealth and stage a “citizen’s revolution” to encourage public participation in government.
“Mélenchon is the last revolutionary on the left, and this is what young people are aspiring to. They are frustrated, they have been frustrated for a long time,” said political scientist Thibault Muzergues.
Cover image: France: High schools blocked again as students reject government responses as 'meaningless' © France 24
01:11
01:11
Livia Jampy, a 25-year-old co-chair of the LFI youth group and a city council member in Montpellier, said the party takes the French youth's political concerns seriously. “People will use any excuse to claim that young people who support Mélenchon are illegitimate or that we don’t understand anything [the party is] doing,” said Jampy. “We understand very well what’s going on.”
Mélenchon and his party have made a conscious effort to empower their young base. The LFI’s youth group, Jeunes Insoumis.es, tries to reach voters online and in the streets. LFI also hosts an annual "summer university" for people under the age of 26 that this year included a meeting with Mélenchon himself.
'The system has not worked for us'
But Mélenchon remains controversial among France’s broader electorate. He has taken flack for encouraging the ongoing student protest movement, which at times has been marked by violence. His political adversaries have blamed his confrontational rhetoric for the civil unrest, with French President Emmanuel Macron saying the youth are being "exploited" by political forces. Since the October 7, 2023 attacks in Israel, he has also been regularly accused of anti-Semitism.
In his previous presidential run, Mélenchon was criticised for his perceived leniency towards Russia and pledging to leave NATO if elected.
Muzergues said young voters feel less concerned by these international issues, but are determined to see systemic reform in France. People “underestimate the radicality of this vote”, he added. “It is not a protest vote. It is a vote to say the system has not worked for us and needs to be changed. Not cosmetically, but profoundly.”
'We must change everything,' French far-left presidential candidate Mélenchon says
Veteran leftist Jean-Luc Mélenchon formally announced his plan to raise France's minimum wage, cap prices for essential foods and restore the country's retirement age to 60 in a speech launching his 2027 presidential election programme on Saturday. Polls currently indicate that he is the left wing's strongest contender against far-right candidate Marine Le Pen.
Issued on: 07/11/2026
By: FRANCE 24
Addressing some 20,000 supporters at a mass rally in the Paris suburb of Le Bourget, Mélenchon nevertheless made it clear he was targeting the Élysée Palace to succeed President Emmanuel Macron.
"I have only one reasonable thing to propose to you. It is, in fact, quite moderate. Just one thing: we must change everything," he said.
"We are paving the way for a major political shift in France," added Mélenchon.
Taking aim at the centre-right Macron, he referred to recent demonstrations and rioting in France over the past months.
"We are living through a strange moment. It is the death throes of the Macron era marked by savagery, police brutality, and the unpredictable, violent outbursts at the end of demonstrations," he said.
He accused Macron of presiding over a "dark end to his reign" and said that the far right under Le Pen had "no idea other than racism".
His manifesto, titled "L'Avenir en commun" ("A Shared Future"), is the fifth edition of the platform of his party, France Unbowed (LFI), and largely reaffirms policies that have formed the backbone of Mélenchon's previous presidential bids.
Among its flagship pledges is the repeal of President Emmanuel Macron's pension reform, which gradually raised France's minimum retirement age from 62 to 64 in an effort to shore up public finances.
LFI says it would restore retirement at 60 for people who have contributed to the system for 40 years.
The programme also calls for increasing the net monthly minimum wage to €1,700 from around €1,480 and includes plans to abolish the flat tax on capital income, raise taxes on the wealthiest households and cap prices for essential foods.
LFI also reiterates its support for a gradual phase-out of nuclear power in favour of a fully renewable electricity system, including scrapping the planned EPR2 reactor programme and not extending the lifespan of nuclear plants beyond 60 years.
On foreign policy, Mélenchon's programme reiterates his long-standing criticism of NATO and calls for France's gradual withdrawal from the military alliance, starting with an exit from its integrated military command.
France previously withdrew from NATO's integrated military command in 1966 under president Charles de Gaulle, a decision later reversed under right-wing president Nicolas Sarkozy in 2009.
LFI's programme also criticises German influence on European Union economic policy, describing Berlin as Europe's chief defender of "ordoliberalism", an economic philosophy centred on strict budget rules, price stability and independent monetary policy.
The programme calls for greater protection of domestic industry, including measures to encourage the relocation of production to France, and advocates a more interventionist role for the state in the economy.
(FRANCE 24 with Reuters and AFP)
Veteran leftist Jean-Luc Mélenchon formally announced his plan to raise France's minimum wage, cap prices for essential foods and restore the country's retirement age to 60 in a speech launching his 2027 presidential election programme on Saturday. Polls currently indicate that he is the left wing's strongest contender against far-right candidate Marine Le Pen.
Issued on: 07/11/2026
By: FRANCE 24
Cover image: French left-wing presidential candidate Jean-Luc Mélenchon delivers a speech to mark the publication of his France Unbowed (LFI) party's government programme in Le Bourget in the outskirts of Paris on November 7, 2026. © Kenzo Tribouillard, AFP
1:05:00
Hard-left French presidential candidate Jean-Luc Mélenchon pledged to raise the minimum wage and restore the country's retirement age to 60 in a speech launching his 2027 election programme on Saturday.
Mélenchon, 75, is viewed as the strongest contender on the left and recent opinion polls have shown him reaching the presidential runoff next April against far-right candidate Marine Le Pen – but also indicate he would lose in the second round.
1:05:00
Hard-left French presidential candidate Jean-Luc Mélenchon pledged to raise the minimum wage and restore the country's retirement age to 60 in a speech launching his 2027 election programme on Saturday.
Mélenchon, 75, is viewed as the strongest contender on the left and recent opinion polls have shown him reaching the presidential runoff next April against far-right candidate Marine Le Pen – but also indicate he would lose in the second round.
Cover image: © France 24
01:11
01:11
Addressing some 20,000 supporters at a mass rally in the Paris suburb of Le Bourget, Mélenchon nevertheless made it clear he was targeting the Élysée Palace to succeed President Emmanuel Macron.
"I have only one reasonable thing to propose to you. It is, in fact, quite moderate. Just one thing: we must change everything," he said.
"We are paving the way for a major political shift in France," added Mélenchon.
Taking aim at the centre-right Macron, he referred to recent demonstrations and rioting in France over the past months.
"We are living through a strange moment. It is the death throes of the Macron era marked by savagery, police brutality, and the unpredictable, violent outbursts at the end of demonstrations," he said.
He accused Macron of presiding over a "dark end to his reign" and said that the far right under Le Pen had "no idea other than racism".
His manifesto, titled "L'Avenir en commun" ("A Shared Future"), is the fifth edition of the platform of his party, France Unbowed (LFI), and largely reaffirms policies that have formed the backbone of Mélenchon's previous presidential bids.
Among its flagship pledges is the repeal of President Emmanuel Macron's pension reform, which gradually raised France's minimum retirement age from 62 to 64 in an effort to shore up public finances.
LFI says it would restore retirement at 60 for people who have contributed to the system for 40 years.
The programme also calls for increasing the net monthly minimum wage to €1,700 from around €1,480 and includes plans to abolish the flat tax on capital income, raise taxes on the wealthiest households and cap prices for essential foods.
LFI also reiterates its support for a gradual phase-out of nuclear power in favour of a fully renewable electricity system, including scrapping the planned EPR2 reactor programme and not extending the lifespan of nuclear plants beyond 60 years.
This photograph shows a person posing with a copy of "L'Avenir en commun" ("Our common future") the programme book for left-wing party France Unbowed (LFI) candidate Jean-Luc Mélenchon in France's 2027 presidential election in Paris on November 6, 2026. © Simon Wohlfahrt, AFP
On foreign policy, Mélenchon's programme reiterates his long-standing criticism of NATO and calls for France's gradual withdrawal from the military alliance, starting with an exit from its integrated military command.
France previously withdrew from NATO's integrated military command in 1966 under president Charles de Gaulle, a decision later reversed under right-wing president Nicolas Sarkozy in 2009.
LFI's programme also criticises German influence on European Union economic policy, describing Berlin as Europe's chief defender of "ordoliberalism", an economic philosophy centred on strict budget rules, price stability and independent monetary policy.
The programme calls for greater protection of domestic industry, including measures to encourage the relocation of production to France, and advocates a more interventionist role for the state in the economy.
(FRANCE 24 with Reuters and AFP)
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