François-Xavier Bellamy wants to mobilize all LR parliamentarians in his campaign

To try to rise in the polls, the candidate for the European elections François-Xavier Bellamy needs all the strength of his party. He therefore invited all LR deputies and senators to a first brainstorming session by videoconference on Monday.

Monday March 11, at 11 a.m., François-Xavier Bellamy organized a videoconference with all LR parliamentarians. They began to think together about the local variations of the campaign for the European elections, the need to make “political moves”, or, more prosaically, to the best places to distribute leaflets. Some suggested going past the bakeries. “We risk not having enough leaflets”squeaks an elected official not convinced by this idea.

The limit of this brainstorming? “There weren’t very many of us”whispers a deputy, between 30 and 50 people at the meeting, while the LR parliamentarians are more than 150. Many preferred to hold their office in constituencies, or to be in the field. “It’s not so bad for a Monday morning.”, plays down an LR framework. François-Xavier Bellamy plans to organize meetings of this type regularly. “It has a useaccording to an elected official : avoid parliamentarians criticizing the campaign by saying ‘we are not associated’!”

Grab points at center right but also elsewhere

If François-Xavier Bellamy needs reinforcements, it is because the polls are not taking off. The LR list is around 8%, or even 7% in the latest Elabe and Ipsos surveys. Suffice to say that François-Xavier Bellamy needs relays to crisscross the field, while the right is still looking for the martingale to grab points.

According to opinion surveys commissioned by LR, the Bellamy list is very often the second choice of Renaissance voters. “We especially have to hit Macron because we have room for improvement in the center right”, estimates a leader. François-Xavier Bellamy and his supporters therefore eagerly relay the interventions of the majority candidate, Valérie Hayer, who highlights her joint votes in the European Parliament with the head of the PS list Raphaël Glucksmann. “Bellamy can be a safe haven for right-wing voters disappointed with Macronism”, wants to believe an LR framework. An MP insists: “This is where our reserves are!”

The vote reserves for LR are not only in the center right. Laurent Wauquiez also sees some on the side of Marion Maréchal’s Reconquest list. A trendy MP Xavier Bertrand recommends, on the contrary, addressing “to the working classes who work, who struggle and who vote RN”. A manager sums up the issue for LR: “We have to look for votes everywhere!”