Reconquest Reconquête | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Abbreviation | R! or REC |
| Leader | Éric Zemmour |
| Founder | Éric Zemmour |
| Founded | 5 December 2021; 3 years ago (2021-12-05) |
| Headquarters | 10Rue Jean-Goujon [fr],8th arrondissement of Paris, 75008, France[1] |
| Youth wing | Génération Zemmour |
| Membership(March 2025) | 75,000 (claimed)[2] |
| Ideology | |
| Political position | Far-right[7] |
| European affiliation | Europe of Sovereign Nations Party |
| European Parliament group | ECR Group (2022–2024) ESN Group (since 2024) |
| Colours | |
| National Assembly | 0 / 577 |
| Senate | 0 / 348 |
| European Parliament (French seats) | 1 / 81 |
| Regional councillors | 13 / 1,758 |
| Departmental councillors | 6 / 4,058 |
| Party flag | |
 | |
| Website | |
| parti-reconquete.fr | |
Reconquête ([ʁəkɔ̃kɛt], English:Reconquest), stylised asReconquête! (often shortened asR!), is afar-rightpolitical party inFrance founded in late 2021 byÉric Zemmour, who has since served as its leader.[8][9] He was a candidate in the2022 presidential election, in which he placed fourth with just over 7% of the vote as the best newcomer.
From September 2021,opinion polling for the2022 presidential election showed a sharp rise in favour of far-right[9] journalist and author Éric Zemmour in the months before he formally became a candidate. A series of opinion polls suggested that Zemmour might reach the presidential election'ssecond round, competing against incumbent PresidentEmmanuel Macron.[10][11] Although there had been speculation about a possible run for the presidential nomination ofThe Republicans in the party's2021 congress, Zemmour opted to put his name forward as the nominee of a new party.[12]
Éric Zemmour formally announced his candidacy for the presidency on 30 November 2021 through a video posted onYouTube.[13][14] It was seen by over 2.6 million viewers in three days.[15]
Reconquête was launched on 5 December 2021;[16] at the founding rally held inVillepinte, Zemmour proposed a "reconquest of the greatest country in the world" in front of 15,000 people.[17][18] The party's name is direct reference to the SpanishReconquista.[19] Zemmour and Reconquête's campaign directors for the upcoming elections were announced asCourt of Audit magistrateSarah Knafo and former French Army major generalBertrand de La Chesnais.[20][21] Reconquête's youth wing, Génération Z, which had been established to mobilise the youth around a possible presidential candidacy of Zemmour, entered the party structureex post.[22][23]
In December 2021,Joachim Son-Forget, elected to theNational Assembly in2017 forFrench residents overseas as aLa République En Marche! candidate, was the firstMP to support Zemmour.[24][25] Former presidential candidatePhilippe de Villiers also announced his support for Zemmour and the party.[26] Zemmour made claims to the media of 40,000 members within days,[27] 60,000 a few days later.[28] In February 2022, Reconquête officially welcomed its 100,000th member.[29]
In January 2022, the party gained its second member[citation needed] of the National Assembly asGuillaume Peltier, previously elected as a member ofThe Republicans,[30] as well as twoMembers of the European Parliament (MEPs) whenJérôme Rivière andGilbert Collard from theNational Rally defected to the party. Rivière had presided over the French delegation to theIdentity and Democracy group in the European Parliament until he joined Reconquête.[31][32] In early February 2022, the party gained a third MEP whenMaxette Grisoni-Pirbakas defected from the National Rally, while MEPNicolas Bay joined in mid-February.[33][34]Stéphane Ravier became the party's first Senator after he left the National Rally in mid-February 2022, whilstSébastien Meurant became the second Senator in March 2022.[35][36] In May 2022Myriane Houplain became the partys second MP.[37]
Other notable people who have been involved around Zemmour's candidacy include former MPsMarion Maréchal,[38]Christine Boutin,[39]Nicolas Dhuicq,[40]Jean-Frédéric Poisson[41] andJacques Bompard,[42] as well as former MEPsJean-Yves Le Gallou,[43]Paul-Marie Coûteaux[44] andBruno Mégret.[45]
In February 2022, a reporter embedded into the Zemmour campaign's online division discovered and reported on a covert online campaign targeting Facebook and Wikipedia. A "shadow army" was delegated to join a huge number of Facebook groups and post pro-Zemmour content to raise the candidate's profile as much as possible. Another group of the shadow online team is a task force called "WikiZedia" which is tasked with editing pages on Wikipedia, in particular the French article about Zemmour, which is the top viewed article onFrench Wikipedia. "WikiZedia" members are charged with promoting Zemmour's page and linking to it as much as possible at the online encyclopedia.[46][47] A veteran editor of French Wikipedia who was one of its top contributors was identified as being part of the Zemmour shadow team, described as being "in charge of the Zemmour page on Wikipedia" and was blocked from editing by Wikipedia administrators,[48][49] along with six other editors.[50][47] As soon as they learned of the affair,Wikimedia France immediately alerted the French media online watchdog agencyARCOM, which tracks online piracy and manipulation of digital communications.[48]
The party won five seats in the2024 European Parliament election in France.
On 12 June 2024,Marion Maréchal was expelled from the party due to calling on voters to support RN candidates in the2024 snap legislative election. Three other party MEPs were expelled for supporting her, leaving the party with one MEP,Sarah Knafo.[51]
Reconquête lost most of its votes and did not win any seats in the first round of the2024 French legislative election, on 30 June 2024.[52]
Reconquête vows to bolster the French economy in line with what some observers have called aColbertist approach.[53] Reconquête promotes theGreat Replacement conspiracy theory and the far-rightremigration policy for the forced mass deportation of non-white immigrants from France.[54][55][56][57][58] Its main campaign themes areidentity, education, taxes, industry and independence.[59] It advocates for areduction in immigration numbers, de-Islamisation, security through new deportation legislation, an improvement in public instruction levels with a revision of thecollège system,lower taxes for the least prosperous French people, as well as higher economic competitivity.[60] Speaking at the founding rally, Zemmour promised to "slash immigration to almost zero", to deport people who unsuccessfullysought asylum andillegal immigrants, as well as to remove France fromNATO's integrated command.[18][61]
In terms ofeconomic policy, Reconquête seeks to implement a "country-score" (French:Patrie-score) which would clearly indicate to the consumer whether a product is French or not.[62]
Inforeign policy, the party seeks to strengthen French fiscal and political autonomy against theEuropean Union (EU).[63] Zemmour has expressed support forBrexit and the UK's vote to leave the EU, but argued that France's situation was different and that he would not seek to withdraw France from the EU. Instead, he has summed up his position as "I want France to be in Europe, but I want France to come first before Europe" and pledged to veto any further EU expansion plans. He has also stated the platform will include withdrawing France from EU immigration and asylum policies, ensuring the French tricolour is always displayed above the EU flag, putting French law above EU law and halting accession talks with Eastern European nations looking to join.[5][64] Reconquête is also opposed to theaccession of Turkey to the European Union.[63] The party takes apro-Israel stance, with Zemmour describing theGaza war as the "fight of our civilisation", calling for a ban onHamas's 'parent organisation', theMuslim Brotherhood, in France, and visiting Israel in solidarity.[65][66] Reconquête seeks to ban the Muslim Brotherhood and linked organisations. The party also wants to place a ban on structures that seek to promoteJihad. It would like to put into practice a tighter control of imams and Islamic preachers in mosques and other Islamic sites in France, including tighter control of external funding for these places of worship and preachers.[67]
The party supports banning theIslamic veil (hijab) in all public places.[67]
| Election year | Candidate | First round | Second round | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Votes | % | Rank | Votes | % | Rank | ||
| 2022 | Éric Zemmour | 2,485,226 | 7.07 | 4th | — | ||
| Election year | Leader | First round | Second round | Seats | +/− | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Votes | % | Votes | % | ||||
| 2022 | Éric Zemmour | 964,868 | 4.24% | — | 0 / 577 | 0[68] | |
| 2024 | Éric Zemmour | 238,934 | 0.75% | — | 0 / 577 | 0[69] | |
| Election | Leader | Votes | % | Seats | +/− | EP Group |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024[a] | Marion Maréchal | 1,345,234 | 5.46 (#7) | 4 / 81 | New | ESN |
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Reconquête is led by Éric Zemmour fromParis, the party's founder and candidate in the2022 presidential election. He is assisted in 2022 by three vice-presidents;Guillaume Peltier,Marion Maréchal, andNicolas Bay.[70]
« Reconquête va très bien, avance Pascale Sanchez, déléguée départementale du parti fondé par Éric Zemmour. Nationalement, nous avons 75.000 adhérents et 400 dans le Puy-de-Dôme. Une belle dynamique est en route. »
L'association Wikimédia France vient d'annoncer l'ouverture d'une enquête approfondie à la suite de la tentative de manipulation de l'information sur le Wikipédia francophone par l'équipe d'Éric Zemmour. ... La communauté des rédacteurs de Wikipédia a d'ores et déjà banni sept comptes.[The Wikimedia France Association has just announced the opening of an in-depth investigation following the attempt by Éric Zemmour's team to manipulate information on French Wikipedia. ... The editing community has already banned seven accounts.]
L'association Wikimedia France a également alerté l'Autorité de régulation de la communication audiovisuelle (Arcom, ex-CSA) par courriel.[The Wikimedia France association also alerted the Audiovisual Communication Regulation Authority (ARCOM, ex-CSA) by email.]
Ils étaient plus de cinquante bénévoles, le 17 février 2022, à se prononcer en faveur d'un bannissement de sept contributeurs de Wikipédia qui modifiaient l'encyclopédie en ligne pour favoriser Éric Zemmour.[On 17 February 2022, more than fifty volunteers voted in favor of banning seven Wikipedia contributors who were editing the online encyclopedia to favor Éric Zemmour.]
Mettre en place un Patrie-score pour indiquer clairement au consommateur la procenance française d'un produit
