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Image: Christiane Taubira at the campaign rally in Rennes. Credit: Quentin Vernault / Hans Lucas / AFP.PARIS, France — French socialist icon Christiane Taubira was the first Black woman in the country to ever launch a presidential bid in 2002. Two decades later, the 70-year-old economist joined the race to the Élysée Palace once again, only to cancel her candidacy in less than two months. Her failed campaign is the embodiment of a declining left in a country that is now dominated by conservative and far-right candidates.
Taubira kickstarted her campaign with a commitment to reunite and reignite the French left – a promise that made her popular among left-wing voters. In January, almost 400,000 participants at the unofficial ‘citizen’s choice’ primary selected her as their preferred candidate.
“We want a united left, we want a standing left because we are committed to leftist ideals” – she said, hand on heart, to a crowd of excited supporters chanting “Taubira for President” during her winning speech.
Her popularity can also be traced back to decades of advocacy for social justice during her tenure as a Member of Parliament and as Minister of Justice. As an accomplished author of ten books, she is also admired by many for her love of literature and poetry.
But none of that seems to have helped Taubira run a successful presidential bid. Despite the initial hype and support from voters, her campaign struggled to gain momentum, at times reaching less than 3% on the polls. Earlier this month, she announced the end of her candidacy after failing to collect 500 endorsements from elected officials – a legal requirement to join the presidential ballot in France.
This ultimate failure, however, was preceded by many other shortcomings that might have contributed to Taubira’s brief campaign. She failed not only in her attempt to unite the left but also to present a clear programme and to appeal to a collective identity of the French working class.
The question that remains is whether those failures can be attributed only to Taubira herself. Or, if they are part of the overall symptoms of a fragmented left that is struggling to produce credible leaders.
Taubira’s attempt to reignite the left wasn’t a recent phenomenon. Since the election of socialist President François Hollande in 2012, the popularity of left-wing contestants has been in steep decline in the country. His attempted successor, Benoît Hamon received less than 7% of the votes in 2017 when current President Emmanuel Macron was elected on a centrist agenda. This year, before Taubira abandoned the race, eight of the left-wing candidates shared less than 1/3 of vote intentions.
For years Taubira has been encouraged to rejoin the presidential race after her failed bid in 2002. As speculations increased in 2021, she continuously denied and refused to announce her candidacy, claiming that she did not want to be “just another candidate” of the left and further contribute to the fragmentation of votes.
Last January, she changed the narrative and officialised her campaign as an independent. She called for a unified left under one single candidate – supposedly herself – arguing that it would be the only way the left could beat the rise of popularity among conservative far-right opponents such as Eric Zemmour or Marine Le Pen.
Despite Taubira’s efforts, it soon became clear that winning the popularity contest among left-wing voters did not necessarily make her popular among fellow contestants. On the contrary, she was accused by her peers of actually creating more division since she was the last of the eight left-wing politicians to join the race.
Most of the other contenders also declined to accept the results of the ‘citizen’s choice’, questioning the validity of the voting process. "It was a primary organised for Christiane Taubira, so she had to win," said The Greens’ candidate Yannick Jadot, referring to the fact that the online survey was initiated by Taubira’s supporters.
In the end, none of the other contestants offered to withdraw their candidacy to support Taubira’s plan of unity. From her perspective, she tried her best “to extend a hand” to her colleagues “unconditionally”. But as she remarked in her final announcement, the left is “mired in a deadlock” and “reuniting it has become impossible”.
In the end, none of the other contestants offered to withdraw their candidacy to support Taubira’s plan of unity. From her perspective, she tried her best “to extend a hand” to her colleagues “unconditionally”. But as she remarked in her final announcement, the left is “mired in a deadlock” and “reuniting it has become impossible”.
Taubira’s political legacy as an advocate for social justice was one of the most appealing points of her candidacy. But on the campaign trail, that failed to convert into votes.
As a Member of Parliament for twenty years, she is most remembered for drafting the 2001 law that recognised the Atlantic slave trade as a crime against humanity. In 2012, she became the first Black woman in France to head the Ministry of Justice. A year later, she was praised for helping former President François Hollande accomplish his campaign promise of legislating same-sex marriage in the country.
During her tenure as minister, Taubira also demonstrated real strength of character. For years she endured blatant racism from the public, political figures and the media. She was compared to a monkey several times and was also the victim of fake news that claimed her son was an enprisoned murderer.
One would be forgiven for thinking that Taubira’s political history and character would be compelling enough to convince the working class and minorities to support her candidacy. Especially since incumbent President Macron is often criticised for his privileged background and for not being a ‘man of the people.’
Taubira’s official campaign website listed employment and social justice as her top priorities, followed by youth empowerment and environmental action. However, none of those causes stuck to her image during the campaign. Nor did they seem to have appealed to the sense of identity of a large enough group of voters.
In contrast, other candidates have gained popularity by ‘fighting’ for much more simplistic causes. Communist Fabien Roussel experienced a boost in the polls after promising to make quality products of the French gastronomy – “good wine, meat and cheese” – more accessible to those with modest incomes. Far-right candidate Eric Zemmour also experienced a rise in popularity by focusing primarily on an anti-immigration narrative. Even centre-right Republican candidate, Valérie Pécresse has hardened her speeches with nationalist remarks in an attempt to appeal to a wider demographic.
This rise of populist rhetoric both on the right and left could suggest that Taubira’s failed campaign is part of a collective challenge. An indication that perhaps the French, as a people, are struggling to find a sense of identity in a globalised world.
Another one of Taubira’s strengths lies in her eloquent and charismatic ability to communicate with an audience. At least that used to be the case prior to the campaign.
As a member of the national parliament, representing her birthplace French Guiana, Taubira became known for her passionate and at times poetic speeches. As a presidential candidate, however, that trait appeared to have become more of a hindrance, with some of her critics questioning if she could actually deliver more than words.
Throughout her campaign, Taubira struggled to present a clear programme. From the start, her speech after winning the primary was filled with uplifting words and promises to “transform our society to make it fairer and more united" but failed to explain what it all meant in practical terms.
To make matters worse, during a TV appearance in early February, the candidate sounded far from eloquent or convincing when questioned about the efficacy of her proposed policies to improve unemployment and housing benefits in the country.
Her answer was so convoluted that at the end of the interview, an audience majority on Twitter rated her answers as “vague” and “muddled”. In contrast, the remarks from far-left candidate Jean-Luc Mélenchon on the same show were considered "brilliant", "concrete", and "humanistic".
For weeks after the broadcast, the worst parts of the interview appeared as a top recommendation on YouTube before one finished typing Taubira’s full name. Nobody can say for sure how much that poor performance affected her popularity. But the repercussions on social networks might just give us an idea of the negative impact it had in reinforcing the public perception that she wasn't prepared for the role.
When announcing her decision to end the campaign, Taubira did not acknowledge any of its weaknesses. In her final speech, she attributed her failure to France’s “outdated electoral system” and the lack of support from colleagues. She leaves the race much as she started, with comforting words but this time sounding much disillusioned.
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