Attal calls a center-right primary 'inevitable' after Philippe says it will not happen

Gabriel Attal said on Monday that a primary to choose a single candidate for France's center and right is "inevitable." A day earlier, Édouard Philippe had said he would not take part in one and predicted it would never happen. The two former prime ministers under Emmanuel Macron both plan to run for president in April 2027. Their dispute now shapes a wider argument across the center and the right about how, or whether, to narrow a crowded field before the first round.

Attal, the Renaissance candidate and the party's secretary general, first proposed what he called a "great primary of democrats" on TF1's evening news on Wednesday, October 28. Philippe, the Horizons candidate and mayor of Le Havre, gave his answer on the same program on Sunday, November 1. Attal replied on TF1's morning show on Monday, November 2.

This report sets out what each side said, who else has taken a position, and what the most recent published poll shows about the field. Quotes from French-language sources are 567politics translations. For background on the candidates, see our profiles of Gabriel Attal, Édouard Philippe and Bruno Retailleau, and our France issues guide.

What Attal proposed

On October 28, Attal told TF1 that the primary was meant to "prevent a second round from which our country would not recover between La France insoumise and the Rassemblement national," BFMTV reported. "It is time for all of us to be responsible and to organize the coming-together that millions of French people want, through a great primary," he said, according to Europe 1.

He did not name candidates. He said he was extending a hand to all who "share a certain number of values." He listed the defense of the values of the Republic, "notably authority, laïcité, the fight against discrimination, Europe and European construction, the competitiveness of our economy, social and ecological progress." He added a second test: "a clear and firm refusal of any alliance with the far left or with the far right."

Attal also drew on proposals that others had already made. He cited a "charter of values" suggested by Hervé Morin, the president of the Normandy region. He cited a vote "by the end of January," the timetable put forward by MoDem leader François Bayrou. And he suggested "a symbolic contribution of one or two euros" to vote, BFMTV reported. That would be far less than the 15 euros the Socialist Party charged voters in its own primary.

He also put pressure on those who stay out. People who choose "to remain apart from this moment of coming-together," he said, "will bear, in some way, the responsibility for division."

The move marked a shift. For months, Attal had said only that he was "not opposed in principle" to a primary, BFMTV reported. When he raised the idea in June, other parties in the center, including Horizons and the MoDem, pushed back. Bayrou has since come out for a primary of his own design, one that would run from the social-democratic left to the "republican right."

Philippe's refusal

Philippe had signaled his view before Attal spoke. In an interview with Le Point published on Tuesday, October 27, he said: "Primaries produce more resentment than unity. Moreover, their current supporters agree neither on the political scope nor on the rules of engagement." A primary running "from the left to the right," as Bayrou suggests, "makes little sense," he said. "And a primary in which the loser does not support the winner, as David Lisnard proposes, is of little interest." BFMTV quoted the interview in its report on Attal's proposal.

On Sunday's TF1 evening news, Philippe went further. "It is a primary of division, because the very principle of a primary is to press on the differences," he said, according to France 24. "We have to create common ground." He called it a "primary of confusion" too, "because it brings together people who are the continuers of Macronism, for Mr. Attal, and others who hold out a hand to the union of the right."

"I think it will not take place," Philippe said. He said it would bring together "people who do not agree, who have in fact said several times that they did not want to work with one another."

Philippe did not rule out that the field would narrow. He pointed to February. "In February, everyone will take their responsibilities," he said, TF1info reported. He applied the same test to himself. "If the French have clearly decided they want to move on to something else," he said, "I will draw the conclusions." He said all the candidates "are legitimate" and that those with proposals should be able to set them out on "school, health, balancing the public accounts, preserving pensions."

His allies had already taken the same line. Laurent Marcangeli leads the Horizons group in the National Assembly. He had said earlier that a runoff between La France insoumise and the Rassemblement national would not be avoided by "this 'at the same time', as muddled as it is risky," HuffPost France reported. "At the same time" is a phrase closely tied to Macron's politics.

Attal's reply on Monday

Attal returned to TF1 on Monday morning. "In the end, I believe this primary will take place. It is inevitable," he said, LCP reported.

He framed the choice as a matter of who reaches the runoff. "Like millions of French people, I cannot accept that the second round of the presidential election should pit Marine Le Pen against Jean-Luc Mélenchon. Our country would not recover from it," he said. In his view there were two paths: "Either one candidate, because he has momentum, is in a position to bring people together. That is not the case today. No candidate is in a position to be in the second round of the presidential election. [...] Or, by bringing different candidates together, we create that momentum. I see no other way than the primary to get there."

He singled out Philippe. "There is only one candidate today who is categorically refusing, and that is Édouard Philippe," he said, according to TF1info. He said Retailleau had declared himself in favor of the principle of a primary. Asked whether a primary could go ahead without Philippe, Attal said "nothing should be ruled out." He added: "More and more French people are in favor of this primary."

He also turned Philippe's charge around. "Division is not the primary," he said, RTL reported. "Division is arriving at the first round with five candidates." A runoff between Mélenchon and Le Pen, he said, would be a "cataclysm" far more serious than differences among candidates. He said withdrawals and "back-room" negotiations over withdrawals are "what disgusts the French." On TF1 he put it another way: "Withdrawals and back-room negotiations are not what will allow us to win," TF1info reported.

On polling, Attal said that when a single center candidate is tested, "he is not even in the second round, whether it is Édouard Philippe or me." He added: "The polls are not flourishing for anyone." He gave himself until "the start of 2027" to win people over, "but the sooner the better."

Where the rest of the field stands

The responses from other candidates and party leaders do not line up neatly with Attal's plan or Philippe's refusal. Several want some form of primary, but they disagree on who should be in it.

Bruno Retailleau, Les Républicains. The LR president and candidate does not reject a primary, but he sets two conditions. "If Édouard Philippe is not in the primary, what is the point?" he said on Europe 1 and CNews on October 28, Europe 1 reported. He wants a contest that is "open and that everyone commits to, from the right to the center." His entourage called the idea of a primary that would include both Retailleau and the Socialist-backed Raphaël Glucksmann "fanciful and ridiculous," franceinfo reported. The same source said: "Without (Édouard) Philippe, it makes no sense." According to Le Parisien, his camp described Attal's version as "stillborn" and said it would mean "five more years of 'at the same time'." Retailleau wants a primary of the right and center that excludes the left and Éric Zemmour, the paper reported.

David Lisnard. The mayor of Cannes, who also leads the Association of Mayors of France, has long called for a primary. He pressed Philippe directly in a post on X quoted by Le Parisien. "But be careful, it will soon be too late," he wrote. He said it is better to face rivals "in the quarter-final than in the semi-final." "Let Édouard Philippe state his scope, and I am ready to face him," he wrote. Lisnard says he would govern with neither the Rassemblement national nor the Macronists, the paper reported.

Valérie Pécresse. The LR president of the Île-de-France region called on LCI for "a primary that is as open as possible," limited to candidates who reject alliances with the extremes, Le Parisien reported.

The MoDem. Bayrou backs a primary. Marc Fesneau, who leads the MoDem group in the National Assembly, told La Tribune Dimanche that he favors a primary running "from the social democrats to the republican right." Le Parisien reported that he would leave out Lisnard.

Renaissance. Aurore Bergé supports a primary from Renaissance to LR, including Horizons, the MoDem and Lisnard's Nouvelle Énergie, according to Le Parisien.

The government spokesperson. Maud Bregeon, the government spokesperson, has backed Philippe since late June, Le Parisien reported. She said on franceinfo that he is "by far the best placed to qualify for the second round." "A primary cannot run from the left of Raphaël Glucksmann to those who would hold out a hand to Éric Ciotti," she said, according to franceinfo.

Other figures on the right and center. A 20 Minutes survey of positions published on October 30 found a wide spread. Senate President Gérard Larcher favors "a system for deciding, including the primary," and his entourage says it should be limited to the right and center. Laurent Wauquiez, who leads the Droite républicaine group in the Assembly, backs a system of arbitration to pick a single candidate of the right and center. Bruno Le Maire is open to whatever can "bring together." Xavier Bertrand, president of the Hauts-de-France region, has often said he is "vaccinated" against primaries since his defeat in 2021. Thierry Breton, the former EU commissioner, says primaries "have never worked in France" and are "losing machines." Attal's team approached that of former prime minister Dominique de Villepin, which said: "We politely turned them away."

The left says no

Attal's proposal reached out to the social-democratic left, as Bayrou's did. The left's main candidate turned it down. "This primary is the primary of those who stand by the record of Macronism. That is not my story," Raphaël Glucksmann, the candidate of the Socialist Party and Place publique, said on BFMTV and RMC on Monday, Le Parisien reported. "I don't believe in it," he said, adding that "there is a democratic left that exists."

Emmanuel Grégoire, the Socialist mayor of Paris, was just as clear. "I close the door to that," he said, according to Le Parisien.

The parties at either end of the spectrum are outside the debate by design. Attal's test of no alliances with the far left or far right would exclude Marine Le Pen of the Rassemblement national and Jean-Luc Mélenchon of La France insoumise. They placed first and second in every scenario of the latest Toluna poll, described below.

What the polls show

Both men cite the polls. The most recent survey with published hypotheses on this question is wave 8 of Toluna's 2027 presidential barometer for M6 and RTL. It was conducted online from October 19 to 21, 2026. The sample was 2,094 registered voters drawn from a larger sample of 2,500 people. It used the quota method, with weighting. The results are shares of votes cast. Toluna gives a margin of error of between 1.4 and 2.9 points for these first-round figures, depending on the score. Toluna notes that voting intentions measure the balance of forces at a given moment and cannot be read as predictions.

The poll tested five versions of the first round. In each, Le Pen led with 33% to 35%, and Mélenchon was second or tied for second.

• Le Pen
• Mélenchon
• Glucksmann
• Leading center candidate

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

Philippe only center candidateLe Pen: 35%Mélenchon: 17%Glucksmann: 13%Leading center candidate: 16%

Attal only center candidateLe Pen: 35%Mélenchon: 19%Glucksmann: 13%Leading center candidate: 11%

Attal and Philippe both runLe Pen: 35%Mélenchon: 17%Glucksmann: 12%Leading center candidate: 13%

Philippe, Villepin and Lisnard runLe Pen: 33%Mélenchon: 17%Glucksmann: 12%Leading center candidate: 15%

Attal, Villepin and Lisnard runLe Pen: 33%Mélenchon: 17%Glucksmann: 14%Leading center candidate: 10%

Philippe only center candidateAttal only center candidateAttal and Philippe both runPhilippe, Villepin and Lisnard runAttal, Villepin and Lisnard run

Source: Toluna barometer, wave 8, for M6 and RTL, Oct. 19-21, 2026

Show the numbers

Scenario	Le Pen	Mélenchon	Glucksmann	Leading center candidate
Philippe only center candidate	35%	17%	13%	16%
Attal only center candidate	35%	19%	13%	11%
Attal and Philippe both run	35%	17%	12%	13%
Philippe, Villepin and Lisnard run	33%	17%	12%	15%
Attal, Villepin and Lisnard run	33%	17%	14%	10%

With Philippe as the only center candidate, he drew 16%, one point behind Mélenchon's 17%. With Attal as the only center candidate, Attal drew 11% and Mélenchon 19%. When both ran, Philippe had 13% and Attal 5%, for a combined 18%. Retailleau ranged from 4% to 9% across the scenarios. Lisnard drew 7% or 8% in the two scenarios where he was tested, and Villepin 1% or 2%. Zemmour drew 5% or 6%.

The figures support parts of both men's arguments. Philippe led Attal in every scenario where both were measured, which is the basis for his camp's view that the center's best-placed candidate is already clear. But no center candidate finished ahead of Mélenchon in any of the five scenarios, which is the point Attal made on Monday. The one-point gap between Philippe and Mélenchon in the first scenario is within the stated margin of error. Our earlier report on Philippe's and Mélenchon's TF1 dispute sets out other recent polls.

What comes next

There is no agreed process, date or set of rules for a primary. Attal says he wants agreement by early 2027. Bayrou's timetable would have a vote by the end of January. Philippe says candidates will take stock in February. The first round is set for Sunday, April 18, 2027, and the runoff for Sunday, May 2.

The dispute also plays out against other questions for the same voters. They include the 2027 budget now before the National Assembly, covered in our report on the Assembly's revenue vote, and the appeal over Le Pen's eligibility to run.

567politics will report on any agreement on rules, any withdrawal or any new polling that tests the scenarios.

Differing perspectives

Should France's center and right hold a primary to choose a single candidate for the 2027 presidential election?

Each position is summarized as its supporters make it, with equal weight and in alphabetical order. A summary is not an endorsement; the evidence for each is weighed in the story above.

• A primary of the right and center only

  Who holds it: Bruno Retailleau (Les Républicains), David Lisnard, Senate President Gérard Larcher and others on the right

  A contest to pick one candidate can make sense, but only if it is limited to the right and the center and everyone in that space commits to it. Including the left would make the exercise fanciful. A primary is also pointless without Édouard Philippe, the best-placed candidate in this space, so its scope and rules must be settled first, and soon, before it becomes too late to matter.

  In their words: Europe 1, interview with Bruno Retailleau ↗

• Hold a broad primary of democrats

  Who holds it: Gabriel Attal (Renaissance), with support for a broad contest from François Bayrou (MoDem) and Aurore Bergé

  No center or right candidate is currently in a position to reach the second round, and a runoff between Marine Le Pen and Jean-Luc Mélenchon would do lasting harm to the country. A primary open to every candidate who shares republican values and rejects any alliance with La France insoumise or the Rassemblement national would create the momentum a single candidate lacks. Division comes from arriving at the first round with five candidates, not from a vote that settles the question openly.

  In their words: TF1info, interview with Gabriel Attal ↗

• No primary; candidates decide in February

  Who holds it: Édouard Philippe (Horizons) and Horizons figures such as Assembly group leader Laurent Marcangeli

  A primary stresses the differences between candidates when the task is to build common ground. This one would also bring together people who disagree and have said they will not work together, from continuers of Macronism to those open to a union of the right. All candidates are legitimate and should present their proposals to voters. In February, each candidate should take stock and take responsibility, including the least well placed.

  In their words: TF1info, interview with Édouard Philippe ↗

• The democratic left runs on its own

  Who holds it: Raphaël Glucksmann (Socialist Party and Place publique) and Paris mayor Emmanuel Grégoire

  The proposed primary belongs to those who stand by the record of Macronism, which is not the history of the left. A democratic left exists in its own right and should offer voters its own candidate rather than join a contest built around the center and the right. A primary of this kind is not credible, and the door to it is closed.

  In their words: Le Parisien ↗