The Guardian view on France's green wave: seizing the moment | Editorial

The march of Europe Ecology is yet another example of how parties of the environment are steadily acquiring power and influence across the continent

Lyon, Strasbourg and Bordeaux; Besancon, Poitiers and Tours: the list of powerful cities that turned green, after France's municipal elections last weekend, was long and impressive. Marseille has been a conservative fiefdom for decades. But a leftwing alliance propelled Michele Rubirola, the candidate of Europe Ecology - France's Green party - to the mayoralty. These were totemic victories, turning the once-peripheral Green party into a significant player in urban France.

Sunday's polls should have taken place in March but were postponed as France locked down. Perhaps because of that delay, and the lingering presence of Covid-19, turnout was low. That may have disproportionately helped Green candidates, whose voters tend to loyally turn out for local elections, and Europe Ecology is still well down the pecking order in national polls. But these caveats aside, the green wave" in France offers heartening evidence that environmental priorities are truly beginning to shape and influence politics in Europe.