Nearly 2,200 mayors have resigned in France since 2020. What about in the Alpes-Maritimes?

"Mayoral resignations have reached a historic level," reveals a study conducted for the Association of Mayors of France (AMF), published Thursday. Since the start of their mandate in 2020, 2,189 mayors have resigned in France, or 6%. This is four times more than between 2008 and 2014.

These resignations are mainly caused by political tensions within municipal councils (31%), far ahead of anticipated transfers of power (13.7%), health problems (13.1%), the accumulation of mandates (8.5%), fatigue (5.1%), as well as personal (3.9%) or professional (3.4%) reasons, notes the AMF-Cevipof/Sciences Po Observatory of Local Democracy .

Tensions generally lead to the resignations of municipal councillors from the opposition and/or the majority, which requires the organisation of early elections at the end of which the mayor is put in the minority and resigns, or chooses to sit as an opposition municipal councillor.

When the municipal council loses a third or more of its members, new elections must be organized within three months.

Six mayors in the Alpes-Maritimes

In the Alpes-Maritimes, six mayors have resigned during their term in office over the past five years, representing 3.68% of the 163 mayors elected in 2020.

In June 2022, Christelle d'Intorni stepped down as mayor of Rimplas after being elected as a member of parliament for the 5th constituency.

The mayor of Bendejun, Joël Gosse, hung up his sash in October 2022, "for personal reasons" .

In May 2023, Jean-Claude Linck, in Roure, victim of a stroke six months earlier, was forced to retire from business .

In Gorbio, the entire opposition resigned in July 2024. With the municipal council having lost a third of its members, a new municipal election is expected to be held in October. Fabrice Pastor won the municipal election in October, defeating the incumbent mayor, Paul Couffet, by 20 votes.

In Beuil, Roland Giraud, 69, presented his resignation to Prefect Hugues Moutouh on October 9, 2024. The cause was a crisis within the majority.

In February 2025, Jean-Marc Délia, mayor of Saint-Vallier-de-Thiey, left his post to become a senator, replacing Philippe Tabarot, who became Minister of Transport.

Twelve mayors from the Alpes-Maritimes region had resigned during the previous term (2014-2020) and five between 2008 and 2014.