France's hardline Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau announced on Wednesday, February 12, that he is bidding to lead his right-wing party, a move that could provide a launching pad for a 2027 presidential candidacy. Retailleau, in his post since last year, has emerged as one of the most high-profile ministers in the government, with his tough stances on issues ranging from immigration to relations with Algeria striking a chord with voters.
Taking the leadership of his right-wing Les Républicains (LR) and launching a bid for the presidency would replicate the tactics of Nicolas Sarkozy, who won the 2007 elections after serving as interior minister under the late former president Jacques Chirac, and then leading the Union pour un Mouvement Populaire (UMP) party.
"I invite each of you to join me, to build this great movement of hope that the right must embody, for the French people we serve and for the France we love," Retailleau, 64, wrote on social media. "Together, in the midst of accelerating events, let us embody this desire for recovery and unity, so that the right can write a new page in the history of our country."
The LR, the successor to the UMP and which traces its origins to postwar leader Charles de Gaulle, was the party of both Chirac and Sarkozy. It sees itself as the natural party of power in France. But it has been out of power since Sarkozy lost the 2012 elections to Socialist François Hollande.
"Today, I want to do for my party what I do at the head of my ministry: speak the truth and act quickly," Retailleau wrote in a message to members, confirming that he would stand at a spring party congress.
He now risks a head-on clash with Laurent Wauquiez, the head of LR's group in the Assemblée Nationale, who is also eyeing a presidential run in 2027. But Retailleau had said in his message: "I do not want new fissures and new wounds in our party."
The seat of the chief of the LR has been vacant since Eric Ciotti was pushed out after he agreed to a controversial alliance with the far right in last summer's legislative elections.
With centrist President Emmanuel Macron unable to stand again after serving the maximum two terms, the 2027 presidential polls are set to be a major turning point in modern French history.
Far-right leader Marine Le Pen is expected to make a fourth run at the presidency, but her hopes of even standing could be blocked if she is convicted in a fake jobs trial at the end of March, on charges she denies.
Other figures who could challenge her on the right and center-right include former premier Edouard Philippe and Justice Minister Gérald Darmanin. Darmanin said on Sunday that a primary could be needed to select the best candidate on the pro-Macron bloc to prevent too many hopefuls from taking part in the first round.