Benoît Payan (born 31 January 1978)[1] is a French politician who has served as
Mayor of
Marseille since 2020. He is a member of the
Socialist Party (PS).
Elected as a city councillor in 2014, Payan became leader of the Socialist group and the opposition to conservative mayor
Jean-Claude Gaudin in 2016.[4] In 2015, he was also elected a departmental councillor in
Bouches-du-Rhône.[5]
In July 2019, Payan was one of the founders of Printemps marseillais ("Marseille Spring"), a broad left-wing electoral alliance seeking to end Gaudin's quarter-century in office in the
2020 elections.[6] He criticised the candidacy of Socialist dissenter
Samia Ghali, believing it could divide the vote and hand victory to the right by default.[7]
Payan's coalition won the election in July, installing
Europe Ecology – The Greens member
Michèle Rubirola as Marseille's first woman and Green mayor.[8] She resigned on 15 December 2020, transferring roles with Payan, her first deputy.[9] On 21 December he was officially voted into office, with support from Ghali's eight councillors and without competition from the right.[10]
Policies
Payan supports the city selling the
Stade Vélodrome football stadium, but only to its tenants,
Olympique de Marseille.[11] He has criticised the environmental impact of
cruise liners on Marseille.[12] While in opposition, Payan collected 10,000 signatures against a
public–private partnership plan to spend €1 billion demolishing and rebuilding over 30 primary schools.[13]