Overview
- Attal formally launched his campaign on Friday in Mur-de-Barrez as leader of Renaissance, pitching an optimistic, countryside-focused bid while his ties with Emmanuel Macron remain strained after the 2024 dissolution of parliament.
- He is 37, rose quickly to become France’s youngest-ever prime minister, and is the country’s first high-profile openly gay candidate for the presidency.
- Attal has cultivated a tough law-and-order and immigration record as a minister, including a national ban on abayas in schools that drew wide attention.
- He faces direct competition from former prime minister Édouard Philippe, who polls stronger this year, and polling shows a fragmented centre that could allow the National Rally or hard-left candidates to reach the run-off.
- To avoid splitting moderate votes, Attal and Philippe have set up a mechanism to assess by early 2027 which of them is best placed to unite centrists and whether one should step aside.