Strasbourg (AFP) – There is talk of a “comeback but I have always been there!”: the socialist Catherine Trautmann, who was already mayor of Strasbourg twice in the 1990s, is once again putting herself through the ballot box for an election with an uncertain outcome.

Published on: 06/02/2026 - 08:33

On this winter Saturday, the arrival of the candidate on the market in a residential area in the south of the Alsatian capital does not go unnoticed. The 75-year-old former minister cannot take a step without being greeted by a passerby.

“I have never received so much affection during an electoral campaign,” assures this native of Strasbourg, favorite in the polls, who has no doubt of having the strength to serve a new six-year mandate.

“I have never stopped working a lot, which constitutes training which also allows me to know what my working capacity is,” she told AFP.

If she took up her pilgrim's staff again, it was out of "responsibility" and at the request of the people of Strasbourg.

Because “Strasbourg is doing badly,” she says, referring to the record of the outgoing green majority, marked by debt doubled in six years.

She criticizes decisions that she considers harmful, such as paid residential parking in certain neighborhoods, or the construction of numerous cycle paths to the detriment of automobile traffic.

“A striking figure”

The latest Ipsos/bva/Cesi poll for the Ebra group published Thursday puts her in the lead with 31% of the vote, ahead of Mayor Jeanne Barseghian (22%) and Les Républicains (19%).

The enthusiasm for Catherine Trautmann is linked first of all to her history: she is a "marking figure" in the city, "all Strasbourg residents over 40, 50 years old know her", young people a little less so, emphasizes to AFP Sébastien Michon, researcher at the CNRS in Strasbourg, specialist in political sociology.

He joined the municipal council in 1983.

Six years later, this theology graduate, specialist in ancient Coptic, won a town hall traditionally in the hands of the right. She becomes the first woman at the helm of a municipality of more than 100,000 inhabitants in France.

His first mandate was marked by the reintroduction of the tramway, which profoundly changed urban planning in the city.

In 1995, she was re-elected in the first round.

During this prosperous decade, she was called to Paris where she became Minister of Culture in the government of Lionel Jospin from 1997 to 2000.

Her successes earned her the nickname “Queen” Catherine.

But following internal dissensions, the PS lost the town hall to the right.

Subsequently kept aside, while her former deputy took over the reins of the city, she was a European deputy, notably between 2004 and 2014.

She will wait until 2020 to lead the socialist list again after withdrawing, and will come in third position in the second round.

She has spent the last six years on the opposition benches.

“I had time to prepare,” she said with a smile.

“Beyond parties”

A “strong uncertainty” reigns regarding the outcome of the vote and possible alliances, underlines the CNRS researcher.

The National Rally (RN) is credited with 11% of the votes while La France Insoumise (LFI) is close to the 10% mark (9%), so both could potentially be present in the second round. The margin of error of the poll carried out between January 13 and 27 among 602 voters is between 2 and 4 points.

In addition to her experience, Catherine Trautmann seduces with a "rather center-left" positioning which also flirts with the center-right, believes Sébastien Michon.

She joins the right in the fight against the insecurity from which Strasbourg suffers, in particular defending a more present police force.

“Catherine Trautmann, I no longer put her in the camp of the left,” Jeanne Barseghian tackled in mid-January.

Moreover, the socialist candidate has already ruled out any alliance with “an environmentalist team that she fought for six years”. No rapprochement with rebellious France either, she said.

After the first round, she remained evasive.

“I present myself beyond parties, with my label, with my convictions, with my values, which poses no problem to anyone because people know my experience and my way of working with everyone.”

“My alliance,” she said, “is first and foremost with the people of Strasbourg.”

© 2026 AFP

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