Latest news with #Macronism
Spectator
20-05-2025
- Politics
- Spectator
Can France's centre-right be revived?
On Sunday, Bruno Retailleau was elected president of Les Republicains – France's mainstream centre-right party. Just a few years ago, his election would have drawn significant attention across Europe, as the rise of a new leader within a major European political force. Today, however, Les Republicains are the shadow of their former selves: a diminished political party on the right fighting for survival. In the 2022 presidential election, the party suffered a catastrophic result, receiving just 4.78 per cent of the vote – an all-time low for the party of De Gaulle, Chirac and Sarkozy. Today, polls show the party barely averaging 10 per cent support ahead of the 2027 presidential election, regardless of the candidate. Squeezed between Marine Le Pen's ascendant National Rally and the fading remnants of Macronism – and challenged on the right by the insurgent Éric Zemmour – Les Républicains struggle to find a viable path back to power. It has now been 13 years since they last held the Élysée. Retailleau faces a seemingly impossible task. A senator from Vendée, he is a seasoned local politician and skilled parliamentarian. He is also a capable orator, at least within the gilded and frescoed walls of the upper house of the French parliament. He
Spectator
19-05-2025
- Politics
- Spectator
Could Bruno Retailleau become France's next president?
Emmanuel Macron appeared on French television last week and spoke for three hours without saying anything of interest. It was a damning indictment of his eight years in office. The country is up to its eyes in debt, ravaged by insecurity and overwhelmed by immigration, but Macron told the country that none of it is his fault. On the contrary, the President scolded the French for being 'too pessimistic'. The disdain is mutual. A poll conducted in the wake of the President's interminable television interview found that 71 per cent of the people consider him to be a 'bad' president. As to the idea that Macron might stand for re-election in 2032 (the French constitution precludes an incumbent serving three consecutive terms), 84 per cent of people expressed their opposition to the idea. 'Macronism' is on its last legs and the question for France is what follows.
