Less than a year from presidential elections of Francemany are already looking with concern at which leaders will fight to reach the Elysée Palace, but their eyes are especially on the best-known faces of the center-right bloc: Édouard Philippe and Gabriel Attal.
Emmanuel Macron He does not have a clear successor, despite the fact that Philippe and Attal were former prime ministers during his government. Both have expressed their aspirations to run as candidates and have a solid voter base to do so. Children of Macronism, the moderate right will have to choose in 2027 between two very different profiles and with very opposite strategies.
On the one hand, Édouard Philippe He arrived at the Matignon Palace as a great unknown to the French after being appointed prime minister by Macron in 2017. During his mandate he promoted structural reforms that led Macronism to its first crisis: that of the yellow vests Years later, with the arrival of covidhis management in the first wave of the virus helped him improve popularity ratings before leaving office and dedicating himself to local politics. His step back has helped him consolidate his local power. Philippe managed to revalidate the mayorship of Havre, in elections that he himself had posed as a test of strength before a possible presidential leap.
With a solid voter base due to his long political career, Philippe presents a less modern image than his rival, Gabriel Attal. With less presence on social networks and a less well-kept website, which the French media highlights still has information from the last municipal elections, the former prime minister emphasizes his fight against drug trafficking as his cornerstone to lead the next elections.
His firm position on security and immigration has allowed him to expand his base beyond the Macronist electorate, also approaching sectors of the left. According to the latest Elable survey, it has a 32% of supporters among that segment of voters, compared to 23% for Attal. In addition to having the support of heavyweights, such as the former minister of the Sarkozy era Nathalie Kosciusko-Morizet.
Youth and social networks
Gabriel Attalfor his part, officially announced his candidacy for the presidency on May 22 during his visit to the Aveyron region. Attal is the youngest, most active on social networksand the one that has a website with a more careful and updated design, where education and work are part of the fundamental pillars of its campaign: “Work must be paid. Work must allow you to live, not just survive. Our fight: increase salaries,” you can read.
His passage through Matignon fue breve, after Macron decided to dissolve the National Assembly. In his short period as prime minister, he was able to do little beyond manage the farmers crisiswho for weeks blocked the main accesses to the capital against the Mercosur.
Like Philippe, Attal is betting on his career towards Elysee Palace by land policy. In recent weeks he has made numerous trips and appearances in the media that have helped him improve his popularity, such as his first major campaign rally that he organized a week ago in Paris. According to polls, this recent appearance helped him considerably reduce his distance from Philippe; His approval rating has risen 4 points compared to the previous month, reaching 32% positive opinions. This places him just one point behind the mayor of Le Havre, who also rose one point, reaching 33%. The gap, however, is narrowing between the two. Elabe considers that Philippe structurally surpasses Attal, reaching its peak in June 2025 with a difference of 5 points.
Despite the competition between Attal and Philippe, There are red lines that they are not willing to cross. As recently revealed The Parisianboth candidates would have signed a non-aggression agreement during a dinner in Paris before the municipal elections held last March.
Bruno Retailleau and Gérald Darmanin, new to the equation
On April 19, Bruno Retailleau He was chosen by members of Los Republicanos as the party’s candidate for 2027, with 73.8% of the votes. This is another candidacy in the diffuse space between the right and the center, where declared and potential candidates compete for position.
A career that he also intends to join Gerald Darmanincurrent Minister of Justice, who maintains his intentions with some ambiguity after having founded his own party in 2024. According to the latest polls, the ranking on the right would be led by Philippe with a voting intention of 32%, followed by Attal with 28%, Darmanin with 26%, and finally, Retailleau with 24%.
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