Zemmour declares for 2027 polling at 3–4%, and the National Rally is already telling his voters to switch

Éric Zemmour is running for president of France again. The 68-year-old founder of the Reconquête party confirmed his candidacy for the 2027 election on TF1's evening news on Tuesday, Nov. 10, saying he wanted to "conserver une France française" (keep France French). He enters the race far behind the candidate of the larger party on his side of the spectrum. The most recent published poll put him at 3 to 4 percent of first-round voting intentions, against 34 to 36 percent for Marine Le Pen of the National Rally (RN).

The announcement turns a question that had hung over the nationalist right since September into a fact: there will be at least two candidates competing for voters who rank immigration as their first concern. Within hours, RN president Jordan Bardella urged Zemmour's voters to rally behind his party, and Communist candidate Fabien Roussel renewed a call to bar politicians convicted of racism from running for office.

What Zemmour announced on TF1#

"Oui, je vous le confirme, je suis bien candidat à l'élection présidentielle" (Yes, I confirm it, I am indeed a candidate), Zemmour said on the TF1 news broadcast, according to franceinfo. He said he had waited before deciding and had concluded that no other candidate and no other program could halt what he called "notre déclin" (our decline). That evening he posted the same message on his own X account.

View this post on X

His first stated priority was immigration. La Croix reported that he set a goal of "deux millions d'immigrés en moins à la fin du quinquennat" (two million fewer immigrants by the end of the five-year term) under a principle he called "immigration négative," meaning more departures than arrivals. To get there, he said he would expel foreign prisoners and also "les chômeurs étrangers de plus de six mois" (foreigners unemployed for more than six months), even if they hold valid residence permits. Both franceinfo and La Croix described that last proposal as a harder line than his earlier platforms. "Ça n'a rien de criminel ni de barbare" (There is nothing criminal or barbaric about it), he said, as quoted by La Croix.

Zemmour also promised a referendum on "la politique migratoire globalement" (migration policy as a whole), arguing that "ce n'est pas à un juge" (it is not for a judge) of the Constitutional Council to "gouverner à la place du peuple" (govern in place of the people). He said he would present "un plan de redressement" (a recovery plan) for the public finances, franceinfo reported. On his X account later in the evening, he said he would cut taxes "massivement" to stop engineers from leaving for the United States. He invited supporters to a campaign launch rally in Toulon on Nov. 21.

The announcement settled a question about who would carry the Reconquête banner. La Croix noted that Sarah Knafo, the party's vice president and Zemmour's partner, has overtaken him in popularity ratings. That had fed talk that she might run in his place. His formal declaration ended that possibility.

What his platform would require#

Several of Zemmour's proposals would test legal limits that he has said he wants to remove. Expelling people who hold valid residence permits after six months of unemployment would raise questions under the residence rules that apply to many permit holders, and citizens of other European Union countries have residence rights set by EU law rather than by France alone. A referendum on migration "globally" would raise a procedural question too, because Article 11 of the French Constitution lists the subjects a referendum may cover. Zemmour's argument is that the people, not judges, should decide such questions. The announcement did not include draft legal texts, so how he would carry out each measure is not yet known.

Where he stands in the polls#

The latest poll on file with the Commission des sondages, France's polling regulator, puts Zemmour near the bottom of a crowded field. Toluna Harris Interactive surveyed 2,436 adults online from Nov. 3 to 5, 2026, for M6 and RTL. From that sample it took 2,101 registered voters, and between 1,336 and 1,370 of them gave a first-round voting intention, depending on the scenario. The official notice filed with the commission tests five first-round scenarios because the center and right have not settled on candidates. Zemmour scores 3 percent in two scenarios and 4 percent in the other three. The institute gives a margin of error of 1.4 to 2.9 points depending on the score, and it stresses that voting intentions "ne peuvent en aucun cas être considérées comme étant prédictives" (can in no way be treated as predictive).

The chart below shows the scenario that includes Édouard Philippe, Dominique de Villepin and David Lisnard. Figures are shares of stated first-round votes.

Marine Le Pen (RN)

34%

Jean-Luc Mélenchon (LFI)

19%

Édouard Philippe (Horizons)

12%

Raphaël Glucksmann (Place publique)

11%

David Lisnard

9%

Bruno Retailleau (LR)

5%

Éric Zemmour (Reconquête)

3%

Marine Tondelier (Ecologists)

2%

Dominique de Villepin

2%

Nathalie Arthaud (LO)

1%

Fabien Roussel (PCF)

1%

Nicolas Dupont-Aignan (DLF)

1%

Source: Toluna Harris Interactive for M6 and RTL, notice to the Commission des sondages

Show the numbers

Candidate	Voting intention
Marine Le Pen (RN)	34%
Jean-Luc Mélenchon (LFI)	19%
Édouard Philippe (Horizons)	12%
Raphaël Glucksmann (Place publique)	11%
David Lisnard	9%
Bruno Retailleau (LR)	5%
Éric Zemmour (Reconquête)	3%
Marine Tondelier (Ecologists)	2%
Dominique de Villepin	2%
Nathalie Arthaud (LO)	1%
Fabien Roussel (PCF)	1%
Nicolas Dupont-Aignan (DLF)	1%

The same notice shows how far the RN's lead extends on the right. Among respondents who voted for Le Pen in the first round in 2022, 93 percent said they would back her again in the scenario pairing Philippe and Gabriel Attal; 1 percent named Zemmour. A single poll is a snapshot, and online quota samples carry error that the stated margins only approximate. Still, the gap between Zemmour and Le Pen is far larger than the margin of error.

A weaker starting point than in 2022#

Zemmour's first campaign began from a stronger position. In the first round on April 10, 2022, he won 2,485,226 votes, or 7.07 percent of the 35,132,947 valid votes, according to the Constitutional Council's official declaration of results. He finished fourth, behind Emmanuel Macron, Le Pen and Jean-Luc Mélenchon, and then called on his voters to back Le Pen in the runoff, BFMTV reported.

Emmanuel Macron

27.85%

Marine Le Pen

23.15%

Jean-Luc Mélenchon

21.95%

Éric Zemmour

7.07%

Valérie Pécresse

4.78%

Yannick Jadot

4.63%

Jean Lassalle

3.13%

Fabien Roussel

2.28%

Nicolas Dupont-Aignan

2.06%

Anne Hidalgo

1.75%

Philippe Poutou

0.77%

Nathalie Arthaud

0.56%

Source: Conseil constitutionnel, decision 2022-195 PDR

Show the numbers

Candidate	Share of valid votes
Emmanuel Macron	27.85%
Marine Le Pen	23.15%
Jean-Luc Mélenchon	21.95%
Éric Zemmour	7.07%
Valérie Pécresse	4.78%
Yannick Jadot	4.63%
Jean Lassalle	3.13%
Fabien Roussel	2.28%
Nicolas Dupont-Aignan	2.06%
Anne Hidalgo	1.75%
Philippe Poutou	0.77%
Nathalie Arthaud	0.56%

The comparison between 2022 and the current poll should be read with care. An election result counts real ballots, while a poll 18 months before a vote measures stated intentions, often for candidates who have not yet declared. The two figures do show the scale of the task: Zemmour would need to more than double his current polling just to match his own 2022 share.

The 2027 presidential race page tracks the declared and potential candidates. The field already includes Teddy Riner, the judo champion who announced a run as "neither right nor left" this month.

1. 2022-04-10Finishes fourth in the first round with 7.07 percent, then backs Le Pen in the runoff
2. 2026-09-17Tells BFMTV "je serai candidat," but his team says it is not yet a formal declaration
3. 2026-11-03Arcom refers his post-Oct. 17 television remarks to prosecutors
4. 2026-11-10Confirms his candidacy on TF1's evening news
5. 2026-11-21Scheduled campaign launch rally in Toulon

The National Rally's answer: consolidate#

The National Rally did not wait for the broadcast to respond. Before the announcement, Éric Ciotti, the RN's main ally, said: "La question est de savoir quand Éric Zemmour annoncera le retrait de sa candidature" (The question is when Éric Zemmour will announce the withdrawal of his candidacy), La Croix reported. RN deputy Julien Odoul asked whether Zemmour "a véritablement envie de voir les idées auxquelles il croit être défendues et être portées au plus haut niveau de l'État" (truly wants to see the ideas he believes in defended at the highest level of the state), adding that Zemmour "passe son temps à taper sur Marine Le Pen" (spends his time attacking Marine Le Pen).

Later that evening, on BFMTV's "Face à BFM" program, Jordan Bardella addressed Zemmour's voters directly. He posted the remark on X.

View this post on X

"Le temps n'est plus à voter pour des partis à 4%" (This is no longer the time to vote for 4 percent parties), Bardella wrote. "Quand on est patriote comme le sont les électeurs d'Eric Zemmour, quand on est traversé par l'angoisse existentielle de voir la France disparaître, alors il faut se rassembler" (When you are a patriot, as Éric Zemmour's voters are, when you feel the existential fear of seeing France disappear, then you have to come together).

The RN's argument is about electoral arithmetic. A vote split on the right could matter in a two-round system where only the top two candidates advance. That risk would be largest if the race for second place is close. In the Harris Interactive scenarios, the gap between Le Pen and the second-placed candidate is about 15 points or more. On those numbers, Zemmour's 3 to 4 percent would not change who reaches the runoff. Polls taken this early can move a great deal, though, and the argument could gain weight if the race tightens.

Zemmour's camp makes the opposite argument: that the RN has softened its positions to win and that a separate candidacy keeps harder proposals on immigration and identity in the debate. Zemmour's TF1 remarks about "notre déclin" and his promise of "immigration négative" are written to set his program apart from the RN's. Readers can compare where analysts place the parties on the French party spectrum. The positions there are dated editorial estimates, not measured scores.

The left's answer: his record should bar him#

On the left, the reaction focused on Zemmour's court record. Fabien Roussel, the Communist Party's candidate, posted on X on Tuesday evening.

View this post on X

"Éric Zemmour veut présider la République après avoir été condamné à plusieurs reprises pour propos racistes" (Éric Zemmour wants to lead the Republic after being convicted several times for racist remarks), Roussel wrote. "Les responsables politiques condamnés pour racisme devraient être rendus inéligibles" (Politicians convicted of racism should be made ineligible). He linked to a petition for such a rule.

Franceinfo reported that Zemmour has been convicted several times of incitement to discrimination, hatred or racial insult. None of the coverage reviewed for this article reported any court order barring him from standing for office. Roussel's proposal would require new legislation, and any such rule would have to be weighed against the constitutional right to stand for election. Le Pen faces a separate eligibility dispute in an unrelated embezzlement case; 567politics has covered how judges and prosecutors read the law on her pending appeal.

Zemmour rejects the premise. On X on Tuesday evening he wrote that he faced "à peu près 40 procédures" (about 40 proceedings) and had been "relaxé 30 fois en 10 ans" (acquitted 30 times in 10 years). "On me poursuit pour un délit d'opinion, au nom d'une loi liberticide que j'abolirai si je suis président" (I am being prosecuted for a crime of opinion, under a law that destroys freedom, which I will abolish if I am president), he wrote. His counts of proceedings and acquittals come from him and could not be independently checked from court records for this article.

The pending Arcom referral#

His candidacy also begins while a new case is open. On Nov. 3, Arcom, France's audiovisual regulator, referred to prosecutors remarks Zemmour made on LCI, BFMTV and CNews after the Oct. 17 protests and the looting that followed them, saying they appeared to call for discrimination, franceinfo reported. 567politics covered the referral and the debate it reopened over a "great replacement" speech bill. A referral is not a charge. Prosecutors decide whether to open a case, and Zemmour is presumed innocent of any offense in that matter.

What to watch next#

The next test is whether Zemmour can gather the 500 sponsorships from elected officials that a candidate needs to appear on the ballot. His Toulon rally on Nov. 21 will show whether his party can still fill a large hall. Polls over the coming weeks will show whether a formal declaration lifts his numbers, as candidates sometimes see after an announcement.

Two questions remain open. The first is whether the RN's pressure to consolidate leads to any deal or withdrawal before the sponsorship deadline. The second is whether prosecutors act on the Arcom referral during the campaign. Neither Reconquête nor the RN has published polling on how Zemmour's voters would split if he left the race. The Harris Interactive notice does not test a scenario without him.

Sources were opened and reviewed on Nov. 10, 2026. Quotations in French are translated by 567 Politics staff.

Differing perspectives

Should Éric Zemmour be a candidate in France's 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.

• Bar candidates convicted of racism

  Who holds it: Communist Party candidate Fabien Roussel and the PCF

  Roussel argues that a person convicted several times over racist remarks should not be able to seek the presidency, and that the principles of liberty, equality and fraternity require a legal bar. He has launched a petition for a rule making politicians convicted of racism ineligible for office. In this view, the issue is not Zemmour's polling level but whether the law should allow such convictions to coexist with a run for the highest office.

  In their words: Fabien Roussel on X ↗

• Run as a separate candidate

  Who holds it: Éric Zemmour and the Reconquête party

  Zemmour argues that no other candidate or program can halt what he calls France's decline, so voters deserve a clear alternative on immigration and identity. He proposes two million fewer immigrants over five years, expulsion of foreigners unemployed for more than six months and a referendum on migration policy. He says his convictions were for opinions, not theft or misuse of public money, and that the law behind them should be abolished.

  In their words: Éric Zemmour on X ↗

• Unite behind the National Rally

  Who holds it: RN president Jordan Bardella, RN deputy Julien Odoul and RN ally Éric Ciotti

  RN leaders argue that voters who share Zemmour's concern about the future of France should back Marine Le Pen, who leads the polls, rather than a party polling near 4 percent. Bardella says the goal is to win the election, not to cast a symbolic vote. Odoul says Zemmour spends more time attacking Le Pen than advancing the ideas he holds, and Ciotti has said he expects Zemmour to withdraw.

  In their words: Jordan Bardella on X ↗

{{cite news |title=Zemmour declares for 2027 polling at 3–4%, and the National Rally is already telling his voters to switch |url=https://567politics.com/news/france-zemmour-2027-candidacy-tf1-reconquete-bardella-roussel-polls-november-2026 |work=567politics |author=567 Politics staff |date=2026-11-11 |language=en}}

{
  "id": "https://567politics.com/news/france-zemmour-2027-candidacy-tf1-reconquete-bardella-roussel-polls-november-2026",
  "type": "article-newspaper",
  "title": "Zemmour declares for 2027 polling at 3–4%, and the National Rally is already telling his voters to switch",
  "URL": "https://567politics.com/news/france-zemmour-2027-candidacy-tf1-reconquete-bardella-roussel-polls-november-2026",
  "container-title": "567politics",
  "language": "en",
  "author": [
    {
      "literal": "567 Politics staff"
    }
  ],
  "issued": {
    "date-parts": [
      [
        2026,
        11,
        11
      ]
    ]
  }
}

<iframe src="https://567politics.com/embed/news/france-zemmour-2027-candidacy-tf1-reconquete-bardella-roussel-polls-november-2026?theme=auto" title="Zemmour declares for 2027 polling at 3–4%, and the National Rally is already telling his voters to switch by 567politics" width="100%" height="440" style="border:0;max-width:100%" loading="lazy"></iframe>
<p style="font-size:14px">Zemmour declares for 2027 polling at 3–4%, and the National Rally is already telling his voters to switch by <a href="https://567politics.com/news/france-zemmour-2027-candidacy-tf1-reconquete-bardella-roussel-polls-november-2026" rel="nofollow">567politics</a></p>
<script async src="https://567politics.com/embed.js"></script>