French 2027 presidential elections: Why Melenchon is a Gen Z favourite

A youth protest movement is sweeping through France, putting a hard-left presidential candidate in the spotlight. Jean-Luc Mélenchon. Thank you very much. Thank you. Mélenchon has managed to do what so many politicians try and fail to, capture the youth vote. The 75-year-old founder of the France Unbowed Party came third in the 2022 presidential election, but won big among 18-24 and 25-34-year-olds, with 31 and 34% of the vote respectively. So why have so many young voters fallen for Mélenchon? One major cause that drew young people in was the party's focus on redistributing wealth, including by taxing corporations and the rich and by raising wages. Many also cited Mélenchon's pledge to stage a citizens' revolution to include more public participation in government, saying they felt the party takes them more seriously as political actors. I admit that it tires me when I hear on the antennas, when I hear around me that young people are not interested in politics. It's not true. We should start to take ourselves seriously and hear that, yes, we are really interested in the world in which we live and in politics. Mélenchon has further connected to young voters by aligning himself with France's student protest movement since September. denouncing the police's use of tear gas and batons. English media have suggested that in 2027, France could see its own Mamdani moment, referring to the youth mobilization that helped Democratic Socialist mayors Zoran Mamdani win in New York City. Young people involved in the France Unbowed movement say they themselves took notes from Mamdani's campaign. The New Yorker example of Mamdani's victory shows that it's not enough to have big speeches on TV or on social networks, but you have to get in touch with people. And that's what we're trying to do, young people, but not just to go door-to-door, to be able to talk, to have long discussions, to go to people and not wait for them to come to us. Recent polls affirm a Mamdani moment is a real possibility. Projecting Mélenchon could score well enough to make the election second round. But Mélenchon remains a controversial figure. Critics accuse Mélenchon of encouraging the youth-led protests, which have been accompanied by violent riots, for his own political gain. Some argue his candidacy serves to reinforce divisions on the French left, with other parties pushing for a more unifying figure to take on the far right in 2027. Mélenchon has pledged to leave NATO and bring Russia back into the European concert. He has also faced numerous anti-Semitism accusations throughout his political career. However, experts say these issues do not seem to be high priority for many of France's young voters, who are more focused on seeing systemic change. 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 and for them the only solution to the problem is not a reform here and there, it's a radical break. With much of France's youth behind him, Mélenchon, however divisive, is a serious contender in 2027.