(From left to right) Raquel Garrido, Lucie Castets, National Secretary of the Greens, Marine Tondelier, Socialist leader Olivier Faure, MPs Clémentine Autain, Laurent Baumel, François Ruffin, Alexis Corbière, and Charles Fournier, in Tours, January 24, 2026. ROMAIN PERROCHEAU/AFP
On Saturday, January 24, casting was the theme of the day at the Jacques-Villeret center in Tours, France. While hopefuls waited to audition for a musical, in another room, French left-wing figures discussed the creation of a presidential primary. The pro-unity left – the Socialists, the Greens, Génération.s, L'Après and Debout! – had gathered to officially launch the process, after months of behind-the-scenes negotiations and disagreements.
Before the press, the party leaders stood together to give substance to a primary that several major other parties still refused to join, notably Jean-Luc Mélenchon's La France Insoumise (LFI), the Communists, and Raphaël Glucksmann's Publique. They announced that the primary will indeed take place on October 11.
Candidates will have to secure 500 endorsements from mayors in order to run. They will face off in a single round, though the voting system has yet to be decided. The vote will be both digital and in-person, with polling stations across all 4,055 cantons, including the 172 in France's overseas departments. "We need people with us – people from charities, people from unions and we'll make this primary a celebration!" said François Ruffin, the founder of Debout!, who hoped to attract at least two million voters.
