In Benest, turnout beat 99% of compared French communes
Olivier Chériot has been mayor of Benest since March 20, 2026, elected by the 11 members of the municipal council. At the March 2026 municipal elections, Avançons ensemble pour Benest won 9 of the 11 seats in the first round on March 15, 2026, with 51.7% of the votes. Benest is part of the Communauté de communes de Charente Limousine.
March 2032
Councils are elected for six years; the council elects the mayor.
Register to vote ↗Throughout this page, the median in Charente and the France median are the median of compared communes (those with an overall grade), each figure its own median. Benest has 307 residents; every compared commune has 2,507 or more, so read its place among them with that in mind.
What stands out about Benest’s town hall
Won in the first round
Avançons ensemble pour Benest won 51.7% of the votes on March 15, 2026, more than half, so there was no second round; 2 lists stood. It took 9 of the 11 seats: half the seats as the list ahead, and its share of the rest. The other lists share the remaining 2. Who’s in charge ↓
Turnout above most communes
82% of registered voters in Benest voted on March 15, 2026: higher than in 99% of compared French communes. The median of compared communes in Charente was 52.5%; across France, 57.4%. 2026 elections ↓
Little investment
Benest invested €194 per resident (buildings, roads, equipment), 19% of its spending: lower than in 87% of compared French communes (France median €403). Investment swings from year to year with projects. The commune’s money ↓
Results as the Interior ministry published them; accounts from the DGFiP via OFGL. Nothing here is graded.
The council the voters chose
Seats as the March 2026 results gave them, one dot a seat.
- Avançons ensemble pour Benest9
- ENSEMBLE, AGISSONS POUR BENEST2
As elected in the first round, March 15, 2026.
The list that comes first gets half the seats; the rest are shared in proportion among the lists with 5% or more, the winner included. So the winning list always has a majority.
Source: Interior ministry, 2026 municipal election results (March 15 and 22), subject to corrections and appeals.
4 authorities share the work
The commune is the tier closest to residents; the intercommunality, the département and the région do the rest.
Births, marriages and deaths, the electoral roll, nursery and primary schools, local roads, planning permission, the municipal police, and what else the council takes on.
Mayor: Olivier Chériot · 11 councilors
The services its communes share: usually waste collection, economic development and planning documents; often water and local buses.
Social aid (RSA, care for older and disabled people, child protection), collèges, the département’s roads, and funding for fire and rescue.
Lycées, regional trains (TER) and coaches, economic development and job training.
Who to ask
The usual split of powers (service-public.fr); an intercommunality’s exact remit varies, so check its website for waste, water and buses.
Membership: COG 2026 (INSEE); intercommunality type: BANATIC, January 2025. What each tier does: service-public.fr.
From the mayor to the intercommunality
The officials as the Interior ministry’s register lists them, and the council by list.
- 1Mayorsince March 20, 2026Olivier Chériot
- 2Deputy mayors3 adjoints, elected by the councilFiona AntoineBernard VisserierAdelaïde Laurence Cohier
- 3Benest municipal council11 seats by listAvançons ensemble pour Benest 9 · ENSEMBLE, AGISSONS POUR BENEST 2
Source: Interior ministry, national register of elected officials (RNE), August 11, 2026.
The 11 members of the Benest municipal council
The mayor and 3 deputy mayors first, then the councilors.
| Name | Office | Since |
|---|---|---|
| Olivier Chériot | Maire | March 20, 2026 |
| Fiona Antoine | 1er adjoint au Maire | March 20, 2026 |
| Bernard Visserier | 2ème adjoint au Maire | March 20, 2026 |
| Adelaïde Laurence Cohier | 3ème adjoint au Maire | March 20, 2026 |
Show the full council (11)
| Name | Office | Since |
|---|---|---|
| Olivier Chériot | Maire | March 20, 2026 |
| Fiona Antoine | 1er adjoint au Maire | March 20, 2026 |
| Bernard Visserier | 2ème adjoint au Maire | March 20, 2026 |
| Adelaïde Laurence Cohier | 3ème adjoint au Maire | March 20, 2026 |
| Frédérique Clement | Conseiller municipal | March 15, 2026 |
| Geneviève Delavergne | Conseiller municipal | March 15, 2026 |
| Rémy Fidèle | Conseiller municipal | March 15, 2026 |
| Marc Pelletier | Conseiller municipal | March 15, 2026 |
| Audrey Theuliere | Conseiller municipal | March 15, 2026 |
| Thibaud Tinard | Conseiller municipal | March 15, 2026 |
| Mickael Tourette | Conseiller municipal | March 15, 2026 |
Names and offices as the Interior ministry’s national register of elected officials (RNE) published them on August 11, 2026, written as it writes them. Public role only. Later resignations and replacements aren’t shown.
The council: same source as Who represents Benest, above.
How Benest voted in March 2026
2 lists stood; one won more than half the votes in the first round.
209 votes cast for a list
214 of 261 registered voters in Benest voted.
5 blank and 0 spoilt ballots, not counted in the shares.
Turnout, first round · March 15, 2026
Shares are of the votes cast for a list, leaving out blank and spoilt ballots. Lists in vote order; the colors only tell the lists apart.
2026 elections: same source as Who’s in charge, above.
Benest spends €1,017 per resident a year
The commune’s consolidated accounts: main and annexed budgets, transfers between them removed.
Per resident, 2025 · against compared communes
Spending and debt per resident, 2018 to 2025
Benest owed €231K at the end of 2025, €742 per resident, lower than in 51% of compared French communes, equal to 90% of a year’s running costs.
Show year by year
| Year | Spending | Investment | Debt | Debt in all |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | €1,017 | €194 | €742 | €231K |
| 2024 | €1,329 | €387 | €846 | €266K |
| 2023 | €1,336 | €518 | €975 | €307K |
| 2022 | €1,179 | €293 | €893 | €284K |
| 2021 | €1,053 | €308 | €831 | €265K |
| 2020 | €815 | €152 | €894 | €290K |
| 2019 | €800 | €126 | €952 | €314K |
| 2018 | €869 | €143 | €1,029 | €338K |
Source: OFGL, consolidated commune accounts 2018–2025 (DGFiP); 2025 provisional.
The 14th highest debt per resident of 41 communes its size
The 40 compared communes nearest in population, debt per resident at the end of 2025.
Lowest: Watten, €1. Highest: Mers-les-Bains, €3,228.
Have a say in Benest
French citizens register online or at the town hall; citizens of other EU countries can vote in municipal elections too.
service-public.fr ↗See where you’re registered and which polling station is yours.
service-public.fr ↗Council meetings are public; the agenda and minutes are posted at the town hall and usually on its website.
service-public.fr ↗Opening hours, address and phone number of the mairie of Benest in the public services directory.
lannuaire.service-public.fr ↗Who can stand, how lists are formed and the deadlines, from the Interior ministry.
interieur.gouv.fr ↗What this data can and can’t tell you
- Mayors and councilors. From the Interior ministry’s national register of elected officials (RNE) as published on August 11, 2026: name, office and start dates, nothing else. The register counts a mayor as a councilor too; the page counts each person once. It isn’t a live roll: resignations and replacements after that date aren’t shown, and no party is inferred for any official.
- How the council is elected. Since March 2026 every commune elects its council from lists (a 2025 law extended list voting to communes under 1,000). A list with more than half the votes in the first round wins; otherwise lists with 10% or more can go on to a second round, where the list ahead wins. It gets half the seats, and the rest are shared in proportion among lists with 5% or more. The council then elects the mayor and the deputy mayors.
- The label beside a list. The political nuance the prefecture gave the list for the ministry’s results (Divers droite, Union de la gauche…), shown as published. It isn’t the list’s own description; many lists, most in small communes, have none.
- The commune’s money. OFGL’s consolidated accounts from the DGFiP, 2018 to 2025; 2025 is provisional. Spending and investment leave out loan repayments; running costs are part of spending. Debt is what was owed at the end of the year.
- Per resident. Divided by the DGFiP’s population for that year (population totale, which counts some people, such as boarding students, in two communes), so it can differ from the census figure elsewhere on the site.
- The medians. Beside the town’s figure, the median of compared communes in its département and in France (those with an overall grade). A commune’s spending follows its size and its role: one that runs a pool or a theater for the villages around it spends more per resident.
Questions about Benest’s town hall
Who is the mayor of Benest?
Olivier Chériot, mayor since March 20, 2026, according to the Interior ministry’s register of elected officials (August 11, 2026).
How many councilors does Benest have?
The Benest municipal council has 11 members, the mayor and 3 deputy mayors included.
Who won the 2026 municipal elections in Benest?
Avançons ensemble pour Benest, in the first round on March 15, 2026, with 51.7% of the votes; it holds 9 of the 11 seats.
What was the turnout in Benest?
82% of registered voters voted in the first round on March 15, 2026; the median of compared French communes was 57.4%.
When are the next municipal elections in Benest?
Councils are elected for six years, so the next general municipal elections are due in March 2032. A council can be re-elected sooner if it loses too many members.
How much debt does Benest have?
€231K at the end of 2025, €742 per resident; the median of compared French communes was €748.
Which intercommunality is Benest part of?
Benest is part of the Communauté de communes de Charente Limousine, which runs the services its communes share.
Sources: Interior ministry RNE, August 11, 2026 · Interior ministry, municipal results 2026 · OFGL consolidated commune accounts 2018–2025 · INSEE COG 2026 and BANATIC (January 2025) for the intercommunality. Under the Licence Ouverte / Open Licence 2.0 (Etalab).
Contains public sector information under the Licence Ouverte / Open Licence 2.0 (Etalab): INSEE, DGFiP, the Interior Ministry’s statistics service (SSMSI), the Ministry of Education (DEPP), the Health Ministry’s statistics service (DREES) and the Housing Ministry (Carte des loyers). Commune boundaries: IGN Admin Express.