The president of the Horizons party Edouard Philippe is traveling to Sarthe and Mayenne for three days. The opportunity for him to take the pulse of the country, three years before the next presidential election.
The start of a new adventure. Edouard Philippe, party boss Horizons and mayor of Le Havre begins a series of field trips this week to take the temperature of different players in the world of work. He “wants to see France as it is, to smell and take the pulse of the country” reports France Info. Visits which begin this Tuesday, February 13, for three days of immersion in Sarthe and Mayenne around health, industry and agriculture. A first step for him towards the presidential election of 2027.
Three days of exchanges in Sarthe and Mayenne
In Sarthe, Edouard Philippe is meeting farmers in Jauzé this Tuesday as well as a rillette manufacturer, Maison Prunier in Connerré. The inhabitants of Suze-sur-Sarthe will then be able to talk with him, before he goes to two schools in the town. On Wednesday, still in Sarthe, he could address the subject of medical deserts during a visit to a municipal health center. These meetings are also for him the moment to plow the ground 3 years before the next presidential election.
On Wednesday, Edouard Philippe will go to the Château-Gontier Production School from 11 a.m. according to Ouest France, “in the presence of industrialists from Mayen”. During the day, he will also go to Méral to visit the Marie-Blanche beguinage for seniors and then meet breeders and farmers. He will then head to Laval, at l’Huisserie at around 4 p.m. before attending a public meeting at l’Agora, in Saint-Berthevin. The next day, a visit to the firefighters of the same town is scheduled at 9:45 a.m. Finally, a trip to the north of the department will round off his stay, as part of a visit to the Sera Industruies company in Gorron, at the end of the morning.
Affirm your stature among local stakeholders
These trips constitute a first step for the former Prime Minister, before the meeting of executives ofHorizons in Besançon, next April then a congress in December. He intends to “deliver a message and the outlines of a political project which goes further over time” indicates France Info. These visits and work should allow it to establish itself on the local scene, based on the notes produced by experts, elected officials, civil servants and a whole network of 25 working groups.
An intensification of its communication in the coming months?
Politically, Edouard Philippe’s position remains quite ambiguous, particularly vis-à-vis the majority. So, the latter must find the perfect balance to chart its course towards 2027, without appearing like the “successor” of Emmanuel Macron. It must not “cut itself off from the base of the majority” explains a Horizons executive in the columns of France Info. An “overexposure which he has made his trademark anti-brand” is even being prepared around his case to strengthen his legitimacy.
Is this the right solution, given the relative discretion of the National Rally, a new sign of distinction for Marine Le Pen’s party which is progressing month after month in the polls for the next European elections? Response in the coming months.