PRESIDENT LR. In the absence of a candidacy from Laurent Wauquiez, the president of the LR senators, Bruno Retailleau, announced Friday, September 2 his candidacy for the election of the president of the Republicans, claiming not to be “man to [se] to steal”.
[Mise à jour le 2 septembre à 18h10] The rumor had been circulating for several days already. It is now official. After Éric Ciotti and Serge Grouard, mayor of Orléans, the boss of Les Républicains senators, Bruno Retailleau, announced his candidacy for the presidency of the party on Friday, September 2, in an interview with Le Figaro. “Yes, I will be a candidate for the presidency of the Republicans”, very explicitly declared Bruno Retailleau, who justified his candidacy by the absence of that of Laurent Wauquiez. “Laurent Wauquiez had all the qualities to preside over our movement but, in his absence, many asked me to introduce myself. I am not lacking in responsibility, but I am not a man to shirk myself.” Will the match between the candidates, the result of which will be known at the beginning of December, only be played by three or more? Who has a chance to succeed Nicolas Sarkozy, Laurent Wauquiez and Christian Jacob? We take stock.
Potential candidates for the election have until October 3, 2022 at 6 p.m. at the latest to file the required sponsorships with the High Authority, which will publish the official list of candidates on October 18. After a campaign that could last two months, the first round of the congress will be held from December 3, 2022 at 6 p.m. to Sunday December 4, 2022 at 6 p.m. If none of the candidates has obtained the majority of the votes cast during this first vote, a second round will be organized on December 10 and 11, 2022.
If the October 2019 congress had taken place without surprises, Christian Jacob, the widely favored candidate, having won in the first round with more than 62% of the votes, this time, the suspense should be there. Especially since the future president may have a presidential future: “We must definitely get rid of the primaries, which I have also taken out of the LR statutes, and my successor must be intended to be a candidate in 2027”, explained Christian Jacob during an interview available on the Republicans website.
The resignation of Christian Jacob made some waves. Former minister, former mayor of Provins and ex-president of the UMP group then LR in the Assembly (from 2010 to 2019), he took the lead of the party in October 2019. Known for his ability to federate, he had brought the party together in view of the 2022 electoral period. However, the formation, weakened by the results of the elections, is today crossed by quite diverse political and ideological lines, threatening its unity. Few subjects there are unanimous, starting with the legacy left by Christian Jacob. The world quoted as such the admiration of Aurélien Pradié for his former president “Chiraquian”, who knew how to transmit his experience to the new guard. But the media also quoted MEP Brice Hortefeux who is more nuanced about the former boss, evoking his lack of incarnation of the function and his “non-presidential” side.
In addition, this departure from rue Vaugirard comes when the President of the Republic was in the midst of negotiations with the leaders of the opposition party. The LR group in fact occupies a role of choice within this new Assembly without a majority, torn between two oppositions that could not be more divergent (namely the Nupes and the RN). With some 70 deputies, the Republican right could be the adequate ally of a presidential camp in difficulty since the loss of the absolute majority on June 19th. The choice of its leader will therefore be crucial in the future of French political life and will determine part of the balance of power within the hemicycle.
The party is reorganizing itself as a whole. The election of Olivier Marleix at the head of the parliamentary group on June 22 marked a turning point, shortly after the departure of Damien Abad, conquered by the macronie. And the changes don’t stop there. Cécile Richez, until then the party’s communications director, will be replaced by Marie-Eve Malouines, Anne Genevard’s current communications officer. For her part, Cécile Richez should become general secretary from September. She will succeed in this capacity to Jean-François Verdier, who will for his part be placed in the administration of the party.
The first round of the election to the Presidency of the Republicans will therefore take place this winter, and will be preceded by a campaign which will begin in the fall, as specified by Annie Genevard, the interim president. Occupying the position since the departure of Christian Jacob in June, the latter will retire to make way for the future designated by the vote of the party congress. Yes, but who? Laurent Wauquiez, the great favorite of the barons of the party, quickly withdrew in favor of other ambitions, more… Presidential. In a letter published on his social networks, Laurent Wauquiez, the former minister and current president of the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region announced that he would give up running for the LR presidency, the election of which will take place in the fall. Instead, he intends to “devote all his energy” to the “refoundation” that he thinks essential to the country. Saying he is determined to “go beyond the questions of apparatus”, he says he wants to be at the “appointment of the great democratic choice of 2027”, enough to suggest that he aspires to the highest presidency, that of the Republic.
Deputy Vice-President of the Republicans since 2021, Annie Genevard has held the interim party presidency since July 1. This mission, it should ensure it at least for five months, the time that the elections are held designating the official president in the fall. This long-awaited election will be the perfect opportunity to close ranks. But without Laurent Wauquiez in the equation, who can claim the position?
He is “thinking about it seriously”. Representative of the new generation of the party, Aurélien Pradié is one of the most credible potential candidates. Close to Christian Jacob, he became secretary general of the Republicans after the latter’s election as party president in October 2019. Very active on the ground in Occitania, he was successively general councilor of Lot, mayor of Cœur de Causse and regional councilor of Occitania. From his beginnings in politics, he mixed his attachment to the territory with his career ambitions by becoming president of the Young UMP du Lot. In 2022, he was re-elected deputy for the 1st constituency of the Lot following a remarkable campaign in the region.
Ideologically, he claims to belong to the social wing of the party, that of George Pompidou, and has often engaged in social issues such as poverty, disability or violence against women. He questions the preponderance of economic liberalism in society and believes that social issues should count as much as the sovereign aspect of governance. This social wing exists more than ever at a time when the French need justice”, he also said during the interview he gave to Linternaute. Questioned by MidiLibre, he evoked the “national message” sent by the voters to the legislative ones: “Among those who make the best scores at Les Républicains, they are candidates of the new generation or those who carry a popular political message and social justice”. Thus defending his political lineage, he affirmed: “It is the path of political reconstruction that we must take”. For Aurélien Pradié and the republican youth he embodies, the idea of the end of an era is “a reality”, and it is time to “take over”.
The new guard is getting organized… But that’s without counting on the tenacity of the old ones. Opposite too, we feel ready to “take up the challenge”, to use the words of an Eric Ciotti who said he was “very determined” to participate in the reconstruction of the house, as he confided to the JDD July 24… Before confirming his candidacy on July 26. “I am working on setting up a rally team,” he told AFP, formalizing the announcement made daily. Nice morning. Currently quaestor of the National Assembly and emblematic figure of his region, the Alpes-Maritimes, he could soon become a key figure in the political life of the country. He also assured that he had already started “work to offer both a broad gathering and a modernized political offer, in line with the expectations of the French”. Fallen candidate of the primary of the right, he wishes to bounce back on the “unexpected success” that this last election represented in his eyes. “To straighten out our country, he added in the southern daily, there is only one way: that of reform”. With the date of December 3 in the viewfinder, he intends more than ever to count in the future of a party that he has never left despite outside calls (in particular those of Eric Zemmour).
After Eric Ciotti and Serge Grouardmayor of Orléans who announced his candidacy, Bruno Retailleau followed suit on Friday, September 2. The boss of the LR senators has officially entered the race for the presidency of the party. Several executives, starting with the President of the Senate Gérard Larcher, support him. But the task will not be easy for the 61-year-old elected official who, if he is appreciated internally, will have to try to weigh against an electorate which has notably enabled Eric Ciotti to arrive at 2e round of the internal primary for the presidential election, helped by the largest local formation of the party, that of the Alpes-Maritimes with its 10,000 members.
Aurelien Pradiesecretary general of the party, could also enter the dance, just like Michel Barnier. The former European commissioner and ex-minister admitted to our colleagues in the Figaro that he did not rule out the idea of a candidacy. Known for his hat as a former Brexit negotiator, he insisted on the need to adhere to a “collective objective” in order to be able to present himself. “I want to be useful to my political family and I am ready to participate in the reconstruction of the party. Do not underestimate my own ability to meet this challenge,” he warned..
The name of the mayor of Troyes Francois Baroin also circulates. The former president of the Association of Mayors of France and great supporter of François Fillon in the 2017 presidential election could well be the second on the list of the most anticipated personalities. We also think of the president of the Hauts-de-France regional council Xavier-Bertrand, who returns to the front of the stage despite his heavy defeat in the party’s primary in December 2021 (given favorite, he finished fourth with 22.4% of the vote in the first round). A great opponent of Laurent Wauquiez, he even left the party in 2017, when the latter took the lead; he could this time challenge him in this race for the presidency. Finally, David Lisnardmayor of Cannes and president of the Association of Mayors of France, would also have some ambitions for the return, and many are those who imagine him campaigning in September.
On his side, Virginie Calmels announced his candidacy at the end of August. Ex-number 2 of the party and former first assistant to Alain Juppé when he was mayor of Bordeaux (Gironde), this business leader finally saw her file be challenged by the party leadership. All candidates had to be up to date with their contributions on July 22, 2022. However, according to the High Authority of Republicans, this was not the case, rendering their ambition obsolete.