Raphaël Glucksmann (Place Publique), Boris Vallaud, Socialist MP for Landes, and Olivier Faure, Socialist MP for Seine-et-Marne, at the Rencontres de Montreuil event, April 11, 2026. AGNÈS DHERBEYS/MYOP FOR LE MONDE
Primaries have become a fixture in nearly every French political speech a year before the presidential election. On the right and the center, some are talking about a broad primary – even one "from Gabriel Attal [President Emmanuel Macron's former prime minister] to Sarah Knafo [a far-right MEP]," as Laurent Wauquiez, head of the conservative Les Républicains (LR) parliamentary group, advocates. On the left, there is talk of a multi-party primary, excluding the radical-left La France Insoumise (LFI), though the Greens remain unsure whether the Socialists will participate. Only LR is taking concrete steps, with an internal consultation on Saturday, April 18, and Sunday, April 19, about how to choose their candidate: an open primary, a closed primary or direct designation of party leader Bruno Retailleau.
Elsewhere, the primary debate continues despite efforts to kill it. Centrist parties agree that there's room for only one right-wing or centrist candidate in the first round of the presidential election. Former prime minister Edouard Philippe (Horizons, center right), considered the frontrunner, wants to force his rivals, Attal (Renaissance, Macron's party) and Retailleau (LR), to back his bid. Both Attal and Retailleau are betting on the opposite outcome, but have ruled out running in a broad primary: Attal does not want to appear alongside Retailleau, who, in turn, does not want to be associated with any link to the Macron camp, even though their parties governed together under the premierships of Michel Barnier and François Bayrou.
