Éric Zemmour, Bruno Retailleau and Marine Le Pen led France's political right back onto the campaign trail this weekend, marking the camp's traditional "rentrée," or post-summer relaunch, ahead of the 2027 presidential election, French broadcaster TF1 reported in its Sunday evening political segment "Partie de campagne."
The right's return follows a similar relaunch by left-wing parties in the preceding weeks, according to TF1. Political parties across the French spectrum traditionally use late-summer gatherings, known as "universités d'été," to relaunch their campaigns each autumn after the summer recess.
Unity On Display, But Not Yet A Coalition
TF1 said the right's leading figures share one overriding preoccupation as they return to the trail: projecting unity, whatever their differences. The three parties, which compete for an overlapping right-wing and far-right electorate, have long been divided over questions of leadership and strategy. A formal alliance between the various camps, however, is not imminent, the broadcaster said.
More Than 25 Declared Candidates
With eight months to go before the first round of voting, more than 25 candidates have already declared themselves ready to enter the presidential race, according to TF1. The broadcaster said the process of narrowing that crowded field down will have to wait.
President Emmanuel Macron, who won election in 2017 and was re-elected in 2022, cannot stand for a third consecutive term under the French constitution, leaving the 2027 race without an incumbent and the field wide open.
Who Leads The French Right
Marine Le Pen has led the National Rally, originally founded as the National Front by her father Jean-Marie Le Pen and renamed in 2018, and has previously stood as its candidate in past presidential elections. She reached the runoff vote in 2017 and 2022, losing on both occasions to Macron. Éric Zemmour, a former journalist and television commentator, founded the Reconquête party in 2021, positioning it to the right of the National Rally, and ran for president in 2022. Bruno Retailleau leads Les Républicains, a party rooted in the Gaullist tradition that has previously produced French presidents including Nicolas Sarkozy, and has himself served as interior minister.
France elects its president every five years through a direct popular vote decided over two rounds. If no candidate wins an outright majority in the first round, the top two finishers advance to a runoff held two weeks later, with the winner serving a five-year term as head of state.
A Weekly Watch On The Race
"Partie de campagne" airs as part of TF1's Sunday evening news bulletin, Le 20H, one of France's most watched news programmes, and follows developments in the run-up to the 2027 election each week. The report was produced by TF1info's video newsroom.
