Department Wallis and Futuna | Canton Alo, Sigave, Uvea | |
Deputy Napole Polutélé
Miscellaneous left | ||
The 1st constituency of Wallis and Fortuna is a French legislative constituency covering the whole of the overseas collectivity of Wallis and Futuna. It is represented in the XIVth legislature by Napole Polutélé, an independent left-wing politician, elected at a by-election in 2013, though at the time of his election he represented the right.
2013 by-election
David Vergé's 2012 election was annulled due to financial irregularities, causing a by-election on 17 and 24 March 2013. Two candidates stood for the left, including Laurianne Vergé for the Socialists. She was the first woman ever to stand as a candidate for Parliament to represent the constituency - and was the wife of David Vergé, who had represented the other side of the political spectrum. Seeking to retain the seat for the right, Napole Polutélé stood as an independent endorsed by the Union for a Popular Movement.
All three candidates received good enough results to advance to the second round, where Polutélé received almost exactly the same result as in the first and was elected. Two months later, having been elected to sit on the opposition benches (albeit officially as an independent), he joined the ranks of the Socialist-led majority. He explained frankly that being a member of the majority would make it easier for him to lobby the government for funds and services for his constituents - who, he said, cared little for the left-right divide prevalent in metropolitan France. He subsequently sat as an independent on the benches of the left.