France’s former PM Philippe: ‘I will be a candidate in the next presidential election’

PARIS — Former Prime Minister Edouard Philippe announced Tuesday he would stand as a candidate in France’s next presidential election as a political crisis continues to grip the centrist bloc in France.
The center-right heavyweight’s announcement of his presidential bid was unexpected, coming as current President Emmanuel Macron intensifies efforts to appoint a new prime minister. Marathon talks with politicians of various hues have yet to produce a compromise.
A caretaker government has run the country since July, when ministers resigned following snap elections that failed to deliver an absolute majority in France’s parliament, the National Assembly.
“I’m preparing ideas that I will suggest to the French. What I will propose will be massive. The French will decide,” said Philippe, who was France’s prime minister from 2017 to 2020, in an interview with French weekly Le Point.
“People often say that when it comes to the presidential election, [candidates] must want it and nothing else. I believe in that,” he added.
While Philippe’s presidential ambitions have long been an open secret, this is the first time he has made his bid for the presidency official. The contest will almost certainly pit him against far-right leader Marine Le Pen, who made it through to the second round of presidential elections in 2017 and 2022. Macron, who is on his second mandate, cannot run again.
In the wide-ranging Le Point interview, Philippe said his priority would be to tackle “the perils” facing France, including a crisis of democracy, budgetary woes, resistance to change and public order issues. He did not provide details of how he proposed to face those challenges.
Philippe, who is one of France’s most popular politicians, enters a crowded field of center-right candidates ahead of the next presidential election, which is scheduled for 2027. Other hopefuls include current Prime Minister Gabriel Attal, outgoing Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin, and conservative parliamentary leader Laurent Wauquiez.