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Municipal elections were held in France on 6 and 13 March 1983. President François Mitterrand and leader of the Socialist Party held power since May 1981.
The left-wing coalition of the Socialists and Communists, in power for only two years, was defeated in the 1983 local elections by the RPR-UDF right-wing opposition. Voter disillusionment with Pierre Mauroy government's tournant de la rigueur ("austerity turn") played a key role in the defeat.[1] The Communists lost Saint-Étienne and Reims, while the PS lost Tourcoing, Grenoble, and Roubaix. They narrowly held Marseille (with Gaston Defferre) against Jean-Claude Gaudin (UDF). In Paris, RPR Leader Jacques Chirac was easily re-elected, sweeping all arrondissements.
