If we will have to wait until the evening of the second round next Sunday to have a clear idea of the person who will occupy Matignon, certain names are already circulating, particularly on the right. The left has not yet designated its favorite in the event of a majority on July 7.
National rally: Jordan Bardella
Restrictions for dual nationals, annual retirement, minimum sentences, “French eating” or “big bang of authority” at school: the National Rally (RN) presented its program on Monday in the event of victory in the legislative elections, through voice of its young president Jordan Bardella.
>> Read in detail: In France, the president of the National Rally unveils his program
Aged 28, Jordan Bardella has quickly climbed the party ladder. At 18, he became departmental secretary of the National Front of Seine-Saint-Denis. The following year, he was a parliamentary assistant to a Member of the European Parliament. At 20, he was elected regional councilor for Ile de France, at 22, party spokesperson, at 24, European deputy, and at 27, president of the RN.
“I want to reconcile the French and be the Prime Minister of all the French, without any distinction,” he says. He repeated it several times during the week: Jordan Bardella will only accept the post of Prime Minister if his party obtains an absolute majority.
Together for the Republic: Gabriel Attal
Cut short by the dissolution of the National Assembly, the ambitious French Prime Minister Gabriel Attal could leave Matignon on the evening of the second round, July 7, if the presidential camp only obtains third place as the polls predict.
Crowned with a more “political” and communicative profile than his predecessor Elisabeth Borne, Gabriel Attal imposed his mark from the handover: traveling often, communicating a lot. Too much according to some, attracting the wrath of the opposition who accuse him of monopolizing the media and “bullshit”. Gabriel Attal assumes and continues to occupy the ground, failing to have an absolute majority in the National Assembly.
A graduate of Sciences Po, four times minister (Youth, spokesperson, Budget and Education), the young head of government sometimes irritates with his image as “top of the class”. Having moved from socialism to Macronism, he now borrows Sarkozy’s codes: he defends the “middle classes” and the “France that gets up early”, advocates “authority” at school, where he wants to bring back the uniform after having banned the abaya, and wants harsher sanctions for juvenile offenders.
He simplifies his speech, calling for a vote for the “central bloc” against the “two extremes” which would send the country “into the wall”.
New popular front: several names, no official
United under the banner of the “New Popular Front” to face the National Rally and the presidential camp, the French left has not officially designated a candidate for the post of Prime Minister.
Leader of La France insoumise (LFI), Jean-Luc Mélenchon simply said: “I am not eliminating myself, but I am not imposing myself”. The tribune explains that he “feels capable of it”, notably because he was a minister under Lionel Jospin. But other LFI names are also circulating, such as Manuel Bompard, Mathilde Panot or Clémentine Autain.
In the Socialist Party, no one is really out of the woods. Some mention the name of François Hollande who is running in Corrèze. The former President of the Republic has not closed the door, simply stating: “I think that the role of personalities like me, given the functions I have held, will be to find solutions”. But the Socialists are also arguing for a female candidate, for example Carole Delga or Valérie Rabault.
>> Read in detail: François Hollande candidate for the legislative elections, opportunism or the renewal of a united left?
The leader of the French Communist Party (PCF), Fabien Roussel, or the former environmentalist presidential candidate Yannick Jadot did not say a categorical no to the idea of becoming Prime Minister either.
