Saint-Denis is just over 9km from the centre of Paris but is in the poorest department in all of metropolitan France, a region marked by unemployment, low incomes and social disadvantage. But Saint Denis’s town hall was the backdrop to memorably joyous celebrations on the evening of 15 March. A delirious crowd carried the new mayor shoulder high, chanting his name over and over. Bally Bagayoko who led a leftwing list uniting the radical left party, La France Insoumise (LFI), and the Communist party pulled off a remarkable feat, decisively winning the second biggest city in the Paris (Île-de-France) region in the first of two rounds. He was the only French mayoral candidate representing a population of more than 150,000 not to require a runoff contest.
For the first time, Saint-Denis, which is home to 130 nationalities, has a mayor who reflects its community – a child of the city and the son of Malian immigrants.
