François de Canson succeeds Renaud Muselier at the head of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region

François de Canson, ex-LR mayor of La Londe-les-Maures (Var), was elected Monday as president of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur (Paca) region.

François de Canson was the big favorite to succeed Renaud Muselier (Renaissance), president of the region since 2017 and who resigned after his recent election to the Senate.

Renaud Muselier, also ex-LR, had dubbed the man who was until then vice-president in charge of economic development and tourism.

And François de Canson was the only candidate for the presidency thanks to the comfortable right and center majority in the Regional Council.

The left had in fact withdrawn between the two rounds during the 2021 regional elections, to block the National Rally, which is consequently the only opposition to the regional assembly.

Out of 122 voters, François de Canson filled the majority camp with 83 votes, the 39 RN regional councilors voting blank.

Emphasizing after his election that he was “fortunate to have a solid majority”, the new president pledged “not to confuse continuity with immobility”.

He set as priorities the economic situation, adaptation to climate change, and the promotion of “subsidiarity”, so that there is “less complexity” in the region's relations with the municipalities.

In the midst of a protest movement in high schools, particularly on the state of establishments which are placed under the responsibility of the regions, François de Canson indicated that he had “ordered a complete inventory of high schools” and promised that “quickly, everything will be put back in order”.

The leader of the far-right group in the region, the RN deputy Franck Allisio, for his part estimated that after the successes of the RN in the municipal and legislative elections in the region, the “glass ceiling” of his party was breaking, particularly in the perspective of the 2028 regional elections.

“Mr. President, you are now at the helm of the Titanic,” he told François de Canson.

The new president, while recognizing the disappointments of the right and the center in the recent elections in the South-East, responded by emphasizing that "no vote was lacking" on Monday in the different components of the regional majority.

“Let’s be united and prove that we can still win this region,” he said.