PULLING STRINGS
Macron has refrained from publicly supporting potential candidates, but is pulling the strings behind the scenes.
He also has gained momentum by trouncing the centre-right Les Republicains party in European elections, denting its hopes of rebuilding a credible opposition.
Some 72 sitting centre-right mayors and senior local officials have announced they will now back Macron's party, including the mayors of mid-sized cities such as Angers, Tours, Orleans, Amiens and Nancy.
Les Republicains is internally split and struggling to position itself between Macron's centrists and the far-right.
Determined to finish the party off, Macron will next year repeat the strategy he used for the European elections: frame the municipal contest as a duel between 'progressives' such as himself and the far-right.
During a recent visit to Marseille, he said he was "glad" that this divide was becoming a defining issue.
Far-right leader Marine Le Pen, whose party traditionally fares poorly in mayoral elections, is aiming to keep the 10 towns it won last time in the north and southeast while adding a few more, including Perpignan on the Spanish border. However, analysts said the real competition for Macron's LREM would more likely come from a surge in support for environmental protection in French cities, increasingly choked with pollution and traffic jams.
"They both draw support from educated voters, especially in Paris," Dargent said. "That will be the key challenge for him."
