Bruno Retailleau, France’s interior minister known for his calls for stricter immigration policies, has been elected leader of the conservative Les Républicains party (LR) in a decisive victory, according to results released on Sunday, May 18th.
Retailleau secured 74% of the vote from party members, defeating Laurent Wauquiez, the head of the party in the Assemblée Nationale, who received 25%.
While LR and its allies currently hold only 60 seats in France’s 577-member Assemblée Nationale, and their candidate performed poorly in the 2022 presidential election, experts anticipate a stronger showing in 2027, when President Emmanuel Macron is constitutionally required to step down. The previous LR leader, Eric Ciotti, resigned last year after advocating for an alliance with the far-right Rassemblement National (RN). Since then, LR has debated its stance but has adopted a more assertive position on issues such as immigration.
Current opinion polls suggest the RN is likely to perform well in the 2027 presidential election, which has been complicated by legal challenges facing its prominent figure, Marine Le Pen.
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Retailleau, who has served in his government post since last year, has become a prominent minister in the centrist-led coalition government. He has indicated his intention to remain in the government but is expected to leverage his victory to advance his own presidential ambitions. “Our political family is now able to carry our project forward for the presidential election,” Retailleau stated to broadcaster TF1 following the announcement of the results.
Approximately 80% of the 120,000 LR party members participated in the weekend vote for the leader. The party’s membership had increased significantly from 43,859 to 121,617 in the two months leading up to the leadership election.
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