Overview
- Valérie Pécresse urges launching a right‑and‑centre primary the day after the municipal elections with a cutoff before summer.
- She calls for the broadest possible electorate and a binding values charter requiring candidates to reject alliances with the far right and to back the eventual winner.
- Pécresse opposes allowing Reconquête MEP Sarah Knafo to take part, citing her European Parliament alignment with the German far right.
- Les Républicains leader Bruno Retailleau has officially declared for 2027 and says he is not opposed to a primary, pledging to accept members’ decisions.
- An Ifop survey reports 45% of right‑leaning sympathizers would vote in a 2026 primary, with higher intent among RN, Reconquête and LR bases, and shows Retailleau leading a hypothetical contest with 41% as figures such as Édouard Philippe reject joining and LR remains split on rules and timing.