After a tense August, the Paris branch of Les Républicains (LR) reached a fragile agreement. On Thursday, August 28, following a meeting of the party's nomination committee, the conservatives managed to broker peace between Culture Minister Rachida Dati and former prime minister Michel Barnier, who had been locked in a standoff over a by-election in the capital's 2nd constituency, scheduled for September 21 and 28.
On the eve of the deadline to file candidacies, Dati agreed to withdraw her threat to run as a dissident against Barnier, whom LR had formally nominated in late July. In exchange, she secured what she had wanted from the start: her party’s formal endorsement as LR's candidate for mayor of Paris in the 2026 municipal elections, a position she has long coveted.
"It's a relief," said Agnès Evren, president of the Paris LR federation. "It wasn't a foregone conclusion, but common sense eventually prevailed. We nominated her unanimously. It's a win-win agreement for everyone," she added, expressing hope that the "sterile divisions" within the party were now behind them.
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