French Socialist Party voting itself into oblivion

The Guardian reports:

Benoît Hamon, the staunchly leftwing outsider who wants to introduce a universal basic income, legalise cannabis and tax robots has topped the poll in the first round of the French Socialist primary race to choose a presidential candidate. He will face the pro-business former prime minister Manuel Valls in a final-round clash between the party’s warring leftwing and free-market factions. …

Hamon, 49, a Socialist MP in Yvelines outside Paris, was the youngest and furthest left of the candidates in the Socialist primary. He wants to reduce the working week from 35 to 32 hours, levy a tax on robots and provide a monthly universal basic income for 18 to 25-year-olds which will then be extended to all.

This helps explain why the Socialist Party is currently in 5th place in the polls.