Laurent Wauquiez, Xavier Bertrand, David Lisnard… Three LR presidential contenders in the aisles of the agricultural show

Coincidentally, there will not only be Marine Le Pen and Fabien Roussel on Wednesday in the aisles of the agricultural show, but also three potential candidates for LR in the next presidential election. The right has no shortage of aspirants.

Laurent Wauquiez, Xavier Bertrand and David Lisnard will all three be at the Porte de Versailles at the same time, at the agricultural show, Wednesday February 28 to meet farmers and the public. Three ambitious people plowing their furrow for the next presidential election. The first, Laurent Wauquiez, is the most likely candidate, but also the most discreet. The second, Xavier Bertarnd, wants to try his luck again, after having failed in the first round of the Les Républicains (LR) primary for 2022. The third, David Lisnard, is working on a project for 2027. Everyone will wander on their own, not match planned in the agricultural competition ring. “They don’t box in the same category”quips someone close to Laurent Wauquiez who sends his rivals back to the ropes.

Laurent Wauquiez remains the favorite to wear the colors of the right in 2027 because Éric Ciotti was elected head of the party by promising activists that the boss of the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region would be the next presidential candidate . But some LRs are worried about the polls, even if 2027 is far away. “I would really like it to work for Laurent, but he is at 5%”, grimaces a manager. For the moment, Laurent Wauquiez is not officially a candidate, putting his entourage into perspective. The window to start moving will open at the start of the school year, after the Olympic Games, “because this is the moment when the French will start to say to themselves: who after Macron?”.

No natural candidate

In the meantime, Laurent Wauquiez sends a few postcards, interviews distilled sparingly. The latest ones raised some questions in his camp, the probable candidate attacked the Constitutional Council and the Council of State. “I don’t understandlaments a deputy, we must seek votes from the center-right, not the far right!”. But according to someone close to Laurent Wauquiez, the strategy is to “talk to all right-wing voters without exception, whether they voted for Macron, Le Pen or Zemmour in recent years”.

The other potential candidates do not intend to leave the field open to Laurent Wauquiez. Xavier Bertrand and David Lisnard see the polls and their conclusion is that there is no natural candidate. They are not necessarily the only ones to think so. An elected official from the Ile-de-France region also suggests monitoring Valérie Pécresse who “wants his revenge”, according to him, after his 4.78% in 2022. In short, the right has no shortage of aspiring candidates. And at this stage, the LR statutes still include a closed primary, reserved for members. Éric Ciotti intends to manage this file on the method of appointment after the European elections.