Marine Le Pen came at the top of the presidential election in this rural village of Bas-Rhin which however benefits from a dynamic industrial activity.
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In 2020, the village of Reichshoffen, in the Bas-Rhin, had been placed, in spite of himself, under the spotlight, following the decision of the Alstom group to separate from its assembly site Regional trains. A factory employing 740 employees, “considered the most adaptable of the group, with a state of work and significant availability. The workers then had the feeling of not being considered by the headquarters at their fair value”, remembers Hubert Walter, the mayor (various right) of the town of 5,400 inhabitants. The story, finally, ends well, with the upcoming resumption of the factory by the Spanish group CAF, weight player on the regional train market. But the episode will have marked the spirits. Should we see a link? On April 24, 54.44 % of Reichshoffen voters placed Marine Le Pen at the head in the second round of the presidential election.
For Frédéric Reiss, deputy (the Republicans) of the constituency, it is above all the sign that, in the region, the workers’ vote has become a Le Pen vote. The phenomenon is not new. It has been a long time since the National Front, now a national rally (RN), has been anchored in this territory in northern Alsace. With less than 8 % of inhabitants living below the poverty line, the Reichshoffen employment area is not one of the poorest sectors, however. The unemployment rate (4.8 %) is much lower than the departmental average. The activity is dynamic, the recruitment difficulties more and more significant. But the equipment rate of this territory that is both rural and industrial is lower than the national average. “The inflationary crises and others handicap rural people much more than city dwellers, confirms Hubert Walter. People now find it difficult to join both ends, they have the feeling of being second-class citizens. We ourselves, ourselves, Elected rural elected officials, we must fight to listen at certain levels. “
le Pen considered less extreme
In Reichshoffen, the RN has entered customs. The scores recorded by the extreme right only move a few rare left -wing voters. This is the case of Julie, a midwife at the Strasbourg-Hautepierre hospital: “My sad observation today is that there is no more left. All that we are proposed In Macron, these are the extremes. In the first round, I may have given my voice to the PS for the last time! “” The RN voters, they are not racists as before, relativizes, on the other hand, meanwhile, Okan Cakir, 31, manager of the village döner Kebab. I even know Turks who voted for the RN, because they are not happy with Macron. Myself, I have nothing to blame him, he Has greatly helped restaurateurs during the covid. But politics is never the subject of discussions here. “At the table, a thirty -something confirms:” I am of Turkish origin and I voted Le Pen, so that There is change. “
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