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Édouard Philippe Scales Mayoral ‘Apartment Meetings’ Into Nationwide Videoconference

The June 25 test demonstrated the format can be run at scale, signaling a shift toward a big Paris rally on July 5.

Overview

  • The campaign ran a synchronized videoconference of local 'réunions d'appartement' that connected 953 salons and about 9,500 participants, short of the 1,100 salons and 10,000 people the team had aimed for.
  • Philippe used the session to stress his mayoral, proximity-driven identity, answer live questions and lay out a conception of the presidency that rejects a central-bloc primary.
  • The format reached households across mainland France and overseas territories, and included technical hiccups and mixed reactions from attendees who said the candidate sometimes failed to land clear positions.
  • Horizons plans a large in-person meeting at Paris's Adidas Arena on July 5 as the next campaign step and intends to repeat themed apartment-video sessions in September.
  • The operation is a deliberate tactical test that adapts municipal doorstep politics to digital mobilization to win undecided and centrist voters and to position Philippe against both centre-right rivals and the RN.