shortage of candidates, why does no one want to become mayor?

Will there be Only a list? One year before the municipal elections of March 2026, many municipalities wonder and the outgoing mayors are desperately looking for their successor. The Association of Mayors of France (AMF) Alert: Vocations are becoming increasingly rare, and in small towns, municipal commitment seems to be a burden.

Less than less candidates to be mayor

This was the case in Buellas (Ain), a commune of 1,800 inhabitants, in the last elections of 2020. “Liberated, issued! », However, exclaimed Michel Chanel (without label), at the end of his mandate. After twelve years as a councilor and three decades on the municipal council, elected officials and residents were warned: he would not stand for.

But at the time of submitting applications, nothing. No name, no program, no project … On March 15, the date of the first round, Buellas’ polls had remained empty, as for 105 other municipalities that year. More than forty more than in the 2014 election.

Critical situation

A local case, but a national issue. Since 2020, 2,400 mayors have resigned and 57,000 seats of municipal councilors remain vacant. In mid-term, 55 % of the city councilors already say that they do not want to imagine. “It’s over the time when an elected official was attached to a single function for forty years,” analyzes Martial Foucault, political scientist and author of Mayors on the verge of nerve crisis (Ed. De l’Aube). The age pyramid speaks of itself: mayors are on average 59 years and 6 months, only 4 % are under 40 years of age*.

However, twelve months from the 2026 deadline, the situation becomes critical. Because a new law under discussion in the National Assembly, in early April, could complicate the situation: municipalities with less than 1,000 inhabitants will have to present joint lists. The AMF never ceases to alert. It is necessary to “arouse the commitment of citizens in municipal life. Indeed, in the absence of mayor, the prefecture dispatches a special commission to manage only current affairs: payments of the salaries of municipal employees, monitoring of urban planning acts and management of extracurricular. This commission must also organize elections. Otherwise, a process of merger with the neighboring municipality can start.

This is what threatened the village of Buellas and the reason why Michel Chanel was represented in October 2020. “If the village disappears, you will be angry,” said his wife at the time. Increaseable for the one whose father had already been mayor of the municipality between 1977 and 1989. So, at 67, in October 2020, he reconstitutes a list and emerged the tricolor scarf. While placing a condition: passing the hand after a year of service. In vain. “In the team, nobody felt ready,” said the elected official, still sitting behind his office five years later.

Among the residents crossed at the corner of the street, none seems to want to take over the torch. “It’s not easy to be mayor. Already on our scale, we rarely hear compliments, ”says Sébastien, municipal employee with green spaces. And yet, in Buellas, a small quiet town less than ten minutes from Bourg-en-Bresse (Ain), the population continues to grow. An additional class was even opened last September in elementary school. 30-60 year olds represent more than 40 % of the population. But when Michel Chanel requests these new citizens to integrate them into his team, he wiped many refusals.

General disengagement

“Combining professional and local mandate is difficult. For a small town, the burden of a municipal elected representative represents 20 to 25 hours per week, ”explains Martial Foucault. From a more general point of view, the inhabitants engage much less in the life of the city. “Even those who have just arrived no longer contribute to local life,” regrets Gilbert Josserand, 85 and co -president of the Buellas elder club. Former of the town, installed since the 1970s, he has accumulated several caps: president of the parents’ association, volunteer at the football club and municipal councilor … But today, even the festival committee, the beating heart of the town, struggles to attract new members.

“No longer seeing people get involved is the hardest to collect,” says Mayor Michel Chanel. So, the town hall recently created a municipal children’s council held by CM2 students. With the “real” elected officials, they move to each inauguration and bring ideas to bring the town to life … An essential democratic link for the future. And who knows, perhaps one of them will one day carry the tricolor scarf? In the meantime, you should just find someone to pass it around him. It will not be Michel Chanel: “I will be 72 years old, and this time, really, I make the keys. »»

* AMF figures, 2020.