Hardline French interior minister eyes Elysée with conservative leadership win
In a landslide result, hardline French interior minister Bruno Retailleau was on Sunday elected as the new leader of the conservative party Les Républicains (LR), once a party of government but which has over recent years entered into a spiral of decline. Retailleau, 64, a senator largely unknown to the wider public before entering government last September, now has the task of rebuilding the party, with his eye on the presidential elections due in 2027. In this analysis of Retailleau’s prospects, Ilyes Ramdani considers the many scenarios for the LR’s future, including as kingmaker for the centre- or far-right in France’s increasingly fractured political landscape.
FranceFrance’s hardline interior minister Bruno Retailleau was on Sunday elected as chairman of the French conservative party, Les Républicains (LR), in a landslide victory over his only rival, Laurent Wauquiez, leader of the party’s parliamentary group and who was briefly chairman of LR between 2017 and 2019.
