With Magali Brunel at the top of the list, the Toulon left is laying its foundations for the next municipal elections

The news had already spread around the city a few weeks ago. It's now official: opposition municipal councilor Magali Brunel will indeed lead the Toulon en commun group's list in the next municipal elections in 2026. Approved by a popular assembly on March 31, the 52-year-old university professor was confirmed by the Socialist Party a few days ago. She succeeds Guy Rebec as the candidate of the Toulon left.

This Wednesday, April 30, in front of the press, the current municipal councilor therefore launched hostilities alongside her comrades, aware of "the battles on several fronts" that she will have to lead over the coming months, and saying she was ready to carry the hopes of a "list of openness and collective intelligence" .

"Toulon en commun began in 2019 with a gathering of environmental and left-wing parties, but also progressive citizens who wanted to change the city and take part in decisions ," recalled the mother. "These energies were strengthened around a collective project which, little by little, took shape."

Today, conferences, debates, and working groups have been added to the monthly meetings organized with residents. They help to enrich the points that will constitute the major themes of the upcoming campaign in the Var capital. These program points "will be presented in the fall and winter."

"It's time to move into the 21st century"

Of course, the introduction of the tramway remains a flagship for the "citizen, ecological, social, and united" list. But free transport, inspired by the example of Montpellier, as well as the issues of housing, culture, security, and education will also be key themes in the 2026 program.

This will also follow the main lines of the one proposed in 2020, "since most of the ideas have not been implemented and they remain relevant," says Philippe Leroy, another elected official of Toulon en commun. "Our diagnosis of the state of the city today makes us consider that many things need to be done because they have been left aside and have remained in the immobility of the 80s," believes Magali Brunel.

He added: "We have a city that breathes inequality and continues to produce it. It seems to me that in our project, it is time to move into the 21st century and to a participatory democracy. It is within this democratic contract that we wish to orient our campaign."

The door still open for LFI?

A campaign that will be conducted without the support of La France Insoumise? While contacts have not been severed, they are now much rarer with the left-wing party, which could propose its own list. The members of Toulon en commun nevertheless assure that they "leave the door open" to those who "want unity" and "identify" with their charter.

Patience, then, especially since the other names that will represent the group are still far from being finalized. The best "cocktail" will only be composed in a few months, from all the people who have committed to the adventure, which elected official André De Ubeda approaches full of hope: "We have the possibility, in Toulon, that the left wins." "And the future of Toulon is shared," concludes Magali Brunel, whose campaign seems to have started well.