The race to replace France’s centrist President Emmanuel Macron is gathering steam, with candidates publishing books and planning rallies, but it remains overshadowed by uncertainty over whether far-right leader Marine Le Pen will be allowed to stand.<\/p>\n
Less than a year until the vote in April 2027, here’s a recap of known candidates:<\/p>\n
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– Far right eyes power –<\/p>\n
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Marine Le Pen’s anti-immigration National Rally (RN) party views next year’s contest as its strongest opportunity yet to take power.<\/p>\n
Polls have repeatedly suggested the far right could lead in the first round of the 2027 vote, but it is not yet clear who its candidate will be.<\/p>\n
Le Pen is hoping to run for president for a fourth time next year, after coming third in 2012, then twice making the runoffs against Macron.<\/p>\n
She will be her Eurosceptic party’s candidate if an appeals court on July 7 does not ban her from office over an alleged fake jobs scam in the European Parliament.<\/p>\n
If she cannot, her lieutenant — 30-year-old party leader Jordan Bardella — will vie for the top job instead.<\/p>\n
He has written two books and last month spoke publicly about his relationship with 22-year-old Princess Maria Carolina of Bourbon-Two Sicilies, sparking celebrity press headlines.<\/p>\n
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– Two centrists –<\/p>\n
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Two former prime ministers, Edouard Philippe and Gabriel Attal, are hoping to gain the backing of the centrist camp.<\/p>\n
Philippe, who is also courting right-wing voters, has said he will run and bolstered his bid by retaining his post as mayor of the northern port city of Le Havre in March.<\/p>\n
Opinion polls in March suggested the 55-year-old, who headed the government from 2017 to 2020 during Macron’s first term and now leads his own Horizons party, could win the presidential election in a runoff against the far right.<\/p>\n
But an opinion poll by Odoxa this week predicted he would barely make second place in the first round behind the far right’s Bardella, following a slight drop in support as investigators probe embezzlement allegations against him.<\/p>\n
Philippe, who denies any wrongdoing, said Thursday he would stay in the race even if formally charged over the alleged misuse of public funds linked to the allocation of a digital hub contract in Le Havre in 2020.<\/p>\n
“I like election campaigns, and I want to win this presidential election,” he told the France Inter radio broadcaster on Thursday, ahead of his first rally on July 5.<\/p>\n
Attal, a 37-year-old openly gay man, last week said he would be running and plans to launch his campaign earlier on May 30.<\/p>\n
“I can’t take this kind of French politics anymore, where it’s just 50 shades of managing decline,” he said.<\/p>\n
Attal, who was France’s youngest prime minister when he served in 2024, wrote in a book that came out last month about his relationship with European commissioner and former minister Stephane Sejourne, calling him the “man of my life”.<\/p>\n
Attal stepped down after Macron dissolved the parliament in summer 2024, a move that backfired and ended up with the RN becoming the largest single party in the National Assembly.<\/p>\n
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– Divided left –<\/p>\n
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It is unclear how many presidential candidates the left wing will field next year.<\/p>\n
The divisive leader of the hard-left France Unbowed (LFI) party, Jean-Luc Melenchon, will be running for a fourth time after coming third in the last elections in 2022.<\/p>\n
The Odoxa poll this week saw Melenchon pick up support, trailing just behind Philippe in third place.<\/p>\n
Raphael Glucksmann, a 46-year-old member of the European parliament, has said will decide next month whether he wants to run.<\/p>\n
The leader of the Place Publique centre-left movement, who published a book this week, came fourth in the Odoxa poll.<\/p>\n
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– The traditional right –<\/p>\n
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The 2027 election is seen as a crossroads for the traditional right, as the party weighs a move toward the centre or a further shift to the right.<\/p>\n
Bruno Retailleau, the hardline leader of the Republicans party, who announced his presidential candidacy in February, plans to hold his first major rally in Paris late next month.<\/p>\n
During his stint as interior minister from 2024 to 2025, he trumpeted a crackdown on irregular migration and drug trafficking.<\/p>\n
Former premier Dominique de Villepin, 72, could enter the race, but he has not scored very high in recent opinion polls.<\/p>\n
He too is under investigation over allegedly accepting gifts of two statuettes while he was foreign minister between 2002 and 2004. He has said he made a “mistake” as there were no guidelines on such matters at the time.<\/p>\n
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