Former French Prime Minister Gabriel Attal announced his candidacy for the presidency in next year’s elections on Friday. He was the youngest Prime Minister in the history of France in 2024. TASR informs about it according to the report of the AFP agency.
- Gabriel Attal has officially announced his candidacy for the 2027 French presidential election.
- As a former prime minister in 2024, he became the youngest in the history of France.
- Attal leads the Revival party and wants to be the leader of the centrist camp.
“I can no longer handle this type of French politics, where it’s just 50 shades of managing decay,” Attal, 37, said when he announced his decision to run.
Attal takes aim at the president
The latest presidential candidate, who leads current Elysee Palace chief Emmanuel Macron’s Renaissance party, hopes to lead the centrist camp in the 2027 election.
“After traveling extensively in France and meeting many French people, I have come to believe – very strongly – that our best chapters are yet to come,” he declared.
For the position of president, Attal will also fight with 55-year-old former centrist prime minister and mayor of Le Havre Édouard Philippe.
Polls favor Philippe
Opinion polls suggest that Philippe could win the presidential election in the second round against the far right.
Speaking to journalists in Mur-de-Barrez, Attal pledged to lift up individuals so that, he said, every Frenchman could say that his children and grandchildren would have a better life. At the same time, he promised to improve all of France so that “every Frenchman can say that our country will once again become the leading power of Europe.”
Fast career progression
AFP notes that Attal made rapid career progress after entering politics in his 20s. In 2017, he was elected to the lower house of parliament and later worked as a government spokesman or minister of education.
He resigned as prime minister in the summer of 2024 after Macron dissolved parliament in a bid to reverse the advance of the far right. However, the far-right National Association (RN) became the largest party in parliament in early elections, leading to a months-long deadlock.
Mélenchon is running again
Attal distanced himself from Macron in connection with the dissolution of parliament and said that the president did not consult with him, reports AFP.
This month, Jean-Luc Mélenchon, the leader of the radical leftist party Intransigent France (LFI), also announced his candidacy for the post of head of state. It will be his fourth candidacy for this highest state office.
The first round of elections will take place on April 11, 2027. The current president, Emmanuel Macron, can no longer run, because according to the French constitution, this is possible for a maximum of two consecutive terms.
