While the government is struggling to turn the page on pensions, a deadline is starting to stir the political world: the next presidential election. It’s in four years and Emmanuel Macron, who will have served two terms, will not be able to stand again. On the right, a name returns to defend the colors of the Republicans: that of Laurent Wauquiez, the boss of the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Region. He is the nominated candidate of LR boss Éric Ciotti. But the road to 2027 is still long.
This was Eric Ciotti’s promise: if I am elected party president, Laurent Wauquiez will be our next presidential candidate. It was six months ago. But since then, the regional boss has been conspicuous by his absence. No national media appearances, very little nationwide policy commentary. “It’s his strategy. confirms one of his relatives. He prepares on the merits, he meets a lot of people and it is he and he alone who decides on the subjects he wants to discuss. “. Except that internally, this distance with national politics is starting to worry. But everything is under control, we are told at the party leadership: “Éric Ciotti and Laurent Wauquiez call each other regularly, there isn’t a week where they don’t coordinate. » Except that in the presidential camp too, we are perplexed: “Wauquiez is the diver who flexes his muscles, steps forward on the diving board, bends over and finally steps back! » Metaphor signed by a regular visitor to Emmanuel Macron.
The reform of the statutes of the party is long overdue
In any case, for Laurent Wauquiez to be nominated as the LR candidate, the party statutes must be reformed. Because, for the moment, it is the principle of the primary, which has left only bad memories among the LRs, which is enshrined in the statutes. They must therefore be reformed so that the candidate is nominated and no longer elected by the members. A mission was indeed entrusted at the beginning of the year to the former deputy Guillaume Larrivé but no news since. “It takes a little time, but the statutes will soon be reformed”, we are assured in the corridors of the party headquarters.
Xavier Bertrand, David Lisnard, Aurélien Pradié…
Except that Eric Ciotti will have competition against him. The boss of the Hauts-de-France region first, Xavier Bertrand, who is in the process of activating his networks throughout France. “His failure in the 2021 primary is behind him”, one of his relatives confides to us. There is also the boss of the powerful Association of Mayors of France (AMF), the mayor of Cannes David Lisnard who does not hide his ambitions on social networks. And then a hypothesis has been flourishing for a few weeks: what if Aurélien Pradié, the noisy LR deputy who led the sling against the pension reform, was a candidate in 2027?
“The subject is not internal competition, but the lack of space on the right”, sweeps the entourage of Laurent Wauquiez. Because the next LR presidential candidate may face him a macronist from the right. Édouard Philippe, Gérald Darmanin, Bruno Le Maire… The real threat to Laurent Wauquiez will surely come from outside the party.