Bruno Retailleau, president of the conservative Les Républicains party, in Paris, on March 24, 2026. JULIEN MUGUET FOR LE MONDE
A meeting of the conservative Les Républicains' (LR) top committee always respects certain traditions. One of them is that Sénat President Gérard Larcher leaves early, without stopping to speak to the cameras. Earlier in the evening, on Tuesday, March 24, Larcher had presented the conclusions of a working group tasked with determining how LR should choose its candidate for the 2027 presidential election.
In April, the party's members will be asked to choose between three options, all of which the political bureau approved almost unanimously. "The first would be an internal primary, in which members would decide who will represent us in the presidential election, and the second would be a primary that is a bit more open to supporters" of the party, and not just card-carrying members, said LR President Bruno Retailleau.
The third option concerns him directly: LR's 120,000 registered members could directly nominate their party leader as the candidate for 2027. That would suit Retailleau well, as he has already announced a bid. "As I committed to when I was elected, it is up to them to decide and allow us to have an LR candidate," said Retailleau, who was elected party president in May 2025.
