It is still two years away, it is already emerging as a seismic race for France: in April and May 2027, the French will go to the surveys and choose their next president. This is how the race is forming until now.
In France, parliamentary and presidential elections are separate heroes: the chaotic situation in Parliament means that fresh parliamentary elections are probable to be HOONER, but the presidential elections usually take place.
At this stage there is only one thing we know with certainty about the candidates: Emmanuel Macron will not be among them. The French Constitution limits the presidents to two consecutive terms; Macron, chosen in 2017 and re -elected in 2022, could in 2032 theoretically in 2032, but cannot be stopped in 2027.
This, combined with the five -year prohibition of occupying a position for the extreme right -wing leader Marine Le Pen, has opened the races.
You can listen to the team in the premises discussing the elections with the policy expert John Lichfield in the last episode of the Talking France podcast. Listen here or on the link below
Here is a look at the declared and probable candidates;
The center
Due to the rule of the two consecutive terms, it is always clear that Macron cannot stand in 2027, and some central candidates have planned their leg offers for some time.
The Chief of the Thesis is the former Macron Prime Minister Edouard Philippe. Since he was fired as PM in 2020 (he is widely rumored by the crime of being more popular than his boss), he has not held a political position on the national stage, although he is mayor of Le Havre, but has created his own centrist party, horizons, with the apparent objective of running for president.
Philippe is still popular among the French public, constantly leading surveys of more popular politicians.
The current Macron Prime Minister François Bayrou It is also believed to consult a fourth presidential offer. Bayrou is not a member of the Macron party, in fact, he was a centrist before Macron, and has defended the elections in 2002, 2007 and 2012, it was never better than third place.
Within Macron’s own party, there are probably several candidates, including Gabriel Attal -A Macron Protégé, 36, who became the first gay prime minister in France in 2024.
Attal held a meeting in Saint-Denis last weekend, promising a “advance” or its presidential campaign, although it did not enter any kind. It was a special on the verdict of Le Pen, says of supporters at that meeting “If you steal, pay”. Like Philippe, Attal is popular and consistently considered well with the public, despite his narrow links with the unpopular president.
Attorney general Gérald DarmaninA macronist to the right of the party and a hard immigration alinicero, it is also understood that he consults an offer.
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An interesting aspect is how Macron’s party will choose his candidate: Macron himself created the LREM movement in 2016 and since then has the only presidential candidate of the party. Therefore, there are no precedents on how the party chooses a candidate, whether it has primaries or will trust an internal selection of the heads of the party.
The extreme right
Until last week, national leader of Rassemblement Marine Le Pen He was the only person who had formally declared his candidacy. However, their plans were thrown into disorder when the judges in the Embeyer case imposed a five -year prohibition of defending public office, immediately effective.
She is still trying to revoke that through the Court of Appeals and an appeal to the ConstitutionnelBut it is far from sure if she will succeed. If she fails, her 29 -year -old deputy is likely Jordan BardellaIt will remain as the RN candidate. Some analysts believe that they could have a better opportunity in the surveys, but Le Pen Herelf is cited saying that “he is not ready.”
The polemicist turned into a politician Eric ZemmourThat he stopped in the 2022 elections, it is also understood that he is considering a second career in the presidency, while Marine’s niece Marion Maréchal He is also a possible candidate for the Renquête de Zemmour’s reconquête.
The left
The left has no shortage of candidates, but a great question is whether there will be a candidate of the ‘United Left’ or not.
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The presidential elections of 2022 saw six leftist candidates, none of which advanced beyond the first round, but from the four main parties of the left, the center of socialist parti, the greens, the communists and the Hard Left la France Wayost under the leadership of the head of LFI Jean-Luc Mélenchon.
It is understood that Mélenchon himself is considering a fourth offer, but there are other candidates for a “United Left” candidate.
These include the journalist turned into MP François Ruffin Who last weekend appeared as a candidate for a combined left offer, the 49 -year -old native of the Northeast of France has continued his career as a documentary filmmaker since he entered Parliament, his 2024 film Au Boulot focused.
Raphael Glucksmann – It is also understood that the central candidate -LTF in the most recent European elections – is considering an offer with the hope of joining the left.
This week, Philippe Poutou – Who has been three times in a Trotskyist ticket, never obtaining more than one percent of the votes, announced that it would not be maintained in 2027 and instead is opening a bookstore in Bordeaux? However, his fellow candidate for Trotskyist elections Nathalie Arthaud It may be again.
Nor is it clear if the Communist Party would present its own candidate, probably party leader Fabien Roussel – Or it would be part of a United Left group.
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Right wing
There is also what remains of the old center, Right Les Répudicins Party, the party of former presidents, including Nicolas Sarkozy and Jacques Chirac, but these days was greatly reduced and staggered sharply to the right.
The former LR senator, who currently serves in the government of François Bayour as Minister of the Interior, Bruno Retailleau It is understood that it retains an offer.
Other probable candidates within the party include MP Laurent Wauquseze And the president of the Hauts-De-France region of the North French Xavier Bertrand.
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