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Municipal elections were held in France on 6 and 13 March 1983. PresidentFrançois Mitterrand and leader of theSocialist 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 theRPR-UDF right-wing opposition. Voter disillusionment withPierre Mauroy government'stournant de la rigueur ("austerity turn") played a key role in the defeat.[1] The Communists lostSaint-Étienne andReims, while the Socialist Party lostTourcoing,Grenoble, andRoubaix. They narrowly heldMarseille (withGaston Defferre) againstJean-Claude Gaudin (UDF). In Paris, RPR LeaderJacques Chirac was easily re-elected, sweeping all arrondissements.