The Republicans Les Républicains | |
|---|---|
.svg){kind=logo} | |
| Abbreviation | LR |
| President | Bruno Retailleau |
| Secretary-General | Othman Nasrou |
| Founder | Nicolas Sarkozy |
| Founded | 30 May 2015; 10 years ago (2015-05-30) |
| Preceded by | Union for a Popular Movement |
| Headquarters | 4 place du Palais Bourbon, 75015Paris |
| Youth wing | Les Jeunes Républicains |
| Membership(2023) |  72,251[1] |
| Ideology | Liberal conservatism |
| Political position | Centre-right toright-wing |
| National affiliation | Union of the Right and Centre |
| European affiliation | European People's Party |
| European Parliament group | European People's Party Group |
| International affiliation | Centrist Democrat International |
| Colours | |
| National Assembly | 52 / 577 |
| Senate | 121 / 348 |
| European Parliament | 5 / 81 |
| Presidencies of regional councils | 3 / 17 |
| Presidencies of departmental councils | 36 / 94 |
| Website | |
| republicains.fr | |
The Republicans (French:Les Républicains[leʁepyblikɛ̃],LR) is aliberal-conservative[2][3][4]political party in France, largely inspired by the tradition ofGaullism.[5][6][7][8] The party was formed in 2015 as the refoundation of theUnion for a Popular Movement (UMP), which had been established in 2002 under the leadership of the then-president of France,Jacques Chirac.[9][10] LR is a member of theCentrist Democrat International[11] and theEuropean People's Party,[12] and sits in theEuropean People's Party Group in theEuropean Parliament.[13]
The UMP used to be one of the twomajor political parties in theFifth Republic, along with thecentre-leftSocialist Party, before being eclipsed by theNational Rally andRenaissance. The LR candidate in the2017 presidential election, former Prime MinisterFrançois Fillon, placed third in the first round, with 20.0% of the vote. Following the2017 legislative election, LR became the second-largest party in theNational Assembly, behindPresidentEmmanuel Macron'sLa République En Marche! party (later renamed Renaissance). After a disappointing result in the2019 European Parliament election, party leaderLaurent Wauquiez resigned. He was replaced byChristian Jacob, who remained in office until after the2022 legislative election, which saw LR lose half of its seats, although it became the kingmaker in ahung parliament. One month before, in the2022 presidential election, LR nomineeValérie Pécresse placed fifth with 4.7% of the vote. Despite those setbacks, LR was still the largest party in theSenate and headed a plurality ofregions of France.Éric Ciotti became president of LR after the 2022 leadership election. In the run-up of the2024 French legislative election Ciotti came out in favour of anelectoral alliance withNational Rally. This would have reversed the historiccordon sanitaire that the party had regarding the group.[14] Ciotti was soon removed from his position, which led to aleadership crisis. In May 2025,Bruno Retailleau waselected president of the party.
The UMP's (Union for a Popular Movement) change of party name and of party structure was one of the promises made by Nicolas Sarkozy during his campaign for the UMP presidency in 2014.[15] After his election in November 2014, Nicolas Sarkozy, the President of France from 2007 to 2012, put forward the request to the party's general committee to change its name to Les Républicains ("The Republicans") and alter the statutes of the party. The proposed statutes provided for, among other provisions, the election of the presidents of the departmental federations by direct democracy and consulting members on election nominations.[16]
Sarkozy wanted to change the name of the party to showcase the reunification of the disparate political views, from the social Gaullism of Henri Guaino to the right line of Patrick Buisson, into "one family".[17][15][18] As declared in an interview for theJournal du Dimanche, Sarkozy also wished to change the name in order to be ahead of his adversariesAlain Juppé and François Fillon (also belonging to theUMP) for the2017 presidential election.[19]
The proposal to change the name was not received well by all members of the party. In an interview for BFMTV, Alain Juppé mocked the ex-French President for wanting to change the name of the UMP.[20] Additionally, Gilles Boyer, supporter of François Fillon, showed his reluctance regarding the change of name by tweeting, "We are republicans. We are not THE republicans."[17] The change of name was perceived by some journalists as an attempt to make the public forget the judicial problems linked to the UMP, especially the Bygmalion case, in which some members of the UMP are suspected to have forged documents relating to the expenses of Nicolas Sarkozy's 2012 presidential campaign.[21][22][23]
Critics of the name change claimed it was unfair for Sarkozy to name the party "Republicans", because every French person is a republican if they support the values and ideals of the French Republic that emanated from theFrench Revolution; as such, the term is above party politics.[24] Left-wing associations and parties and 140 individuals, including five having "Républicain" as their last name, sued the UMP.[25][24] The court ruled in favour of the UMP's change in name, stating that the "manifestly unlawful disturbance" and the "imminent damage" alleged by the complainants have not been demonstrated.[25] The new name was adopted by the party bureau on 5 May 2015 and approved by the party membership on 28 May by an online "yes" vote of 83.3% on a 45.7% turnout after a court ruling in favour of Sarkozy.[26]
The change to the name "The Republicans" was confirmed at the party's founding congress at the Paris Event Centre inParis on 30 May 2015, attended by 10,000 activists.[27]Angela Merkel, chairwoman of theChristian Democratic Union of Germany, sent a congratulatory message to the congress. The Republicans thus became the legal successor of the UMP and the leading centre-right party in France.[28]
The organisation has been declared in thepréfecture deSaône-et-Loire on 9 April 2015.[29] According to the statement of this declaration, its aim is to "promote ideas of the right and centre, open to every people who wish to be member and debate in the spirit of a political party with republican ideas in France or outside France".[citation needed] This party foundation was published in theJournal officiel de la République française on 25 April 2015.[30]
On 3 July 2016,Nicolas Sarkozy announced that he would resign as leader that year in order to compete to be the centre-right candidate in the2017 presidential election.[31]
In order to decide which candidate will represent The Republicans for the 2017 presidential election, a party's primary was organised in November 2016.[32] The activists of the movement could choose between seven candidates: François Fillion, Alain Juppé, Nicolas Sarkozy, Jean-François Copé, Nathalie Kosciusko-Morizet, Bruno Le Maire and Jean-Frédéric Poisson. François Fillon, with 44,1% of the votes, and Alain Juppé, with 28,6%, were the two candidates qualified for the second round of the election.[32] François Fillon won the second turn of the election with 66,5% of the votes and was therefore appointed as The Republicans' candidate for the presidential election in 2017.[33]
François Fillon suffered a historic defeat in the first round of the presidential election, as he was the first centre-right candidate in the history of the Fifth Republic who failed to continue to the second round.[34] This led to the victory of Emmanuel Macron,[35] leader of his newly created partyLa République En Marche!.[36] François Fillon finished third in the first round of the presidential election with 20,01% of the vote, behind Emmanuel Macron (24,01%) and Marine le Pen (21,30%).[37] This defeat is mainly due to thePenelopegate scandal, as François Fillon was considered the favourite candidate by the polls before these revelations.[38]
The election victory of Emmanuel Macron in 2017 altered the French political landscape.[39] AfterEmmanuel Macron was elected as president, he appointed three centre-right politicians in his government from The Republicans, namelyÉdouard Philippe asPrime Minister,Bruno Le Maire asFrench Minister of the Economy and Finance, andGérald Darmanin asMinister of Public Action and Accounts.[39] The fact that three ex-members from The Republicans are now part of the government, has allegedly divided the political party based on views of whether or not the republicans should support the incumbent government.[39] Some members of The Republicans, such as Thierry Solère orSébastien Lecornu, therefore decided to leave the party in order to joinLa République En Marche!, the new political party created by Emmanuel Macron.[39] Other members, like Franck Riester or Fabienne Keller, decided to create a new political party: "Agir".[39] Additionally, a parliamentary group including LR dissidents supportive of the government line, "The Constructives", was formed in theNational Assembly, separate from theexisting group.[40]
A month after the presidential election, the legislative elections took place in France. In the second round of thelegislative elections in June, The Republicans won 112 seats in parliament, which is 82 less than the number of seats won by theUMP in 2012.[41][42] This result was the worst performance of a major centre-right political party in French history.[43]
On 11 July, the political bureau of The Republicans agreed to hold aleadership election for president of the party on 10 and 17 December;[44]Laurent Wauquiez was elected in a single round on 10 December, winning 74.64% of the votes.[45]Laurent Wauquiez's election for the head of the Party continued to divide The Republicans as 26 elected officials left the party between his election on 10 December and 21 February 2018.[46]
On 2 June 2019, a week after overseeing the worst result for the centre-right in its history in theEuropean elections with 8.48% of the vote, Wauquiez announced his resignation as president of The Republicans.[47] On 13 October 2019,Christian Jacob, former Minister of theFrench Civil Service, waselected as President of the party, taking from interim PresidentJean Leonetti.[48]
In the2020 French Senate election, the Republicans held their majority.[49] In2021 French regional elections, the party managed to retain all regional presidencies.
In December 2021,Valérie Pécresse won theRepublican congress, winning the centre-right to be the Republican candidate in the2022 French presidential election.[50] She earned 4.8% of the 1st round vote, which was under the 5% reimbursement threshold.[51] Consequently, the party's funding was left in a critical condition and Pécresse launched an appeal, having been in €5 million in party debt.[52] In the2022 French legislative election, the Republicans lost 56 seats and fell from 2nd to 4th place in terms of seats.[53]
In the2022 leadership election,Éric Ciotti was elected with 53.7% of the votes against his main opponent,Bruno Retailleau, who received 46.3% to become the next leader of the party.[54] Ciotti has largely been described asright-wing and of belonging in the populist faction of the party.[55][56][57]
In the aftermath of the2024 European Parliament election and the subsequent dissolution of the National Assembly by President Emmanuel Macron, Éric Ciotti declared his party would unite withNational Rally for the upcoming2024 snap election. This stance provoked a major schism within the party,[58] with French senatorsSophie Primas andJean-François Husson announcing on 11 June that they would leave the party.[59] Ciotti was voted out as president on 12 June, though he disputed the decision.[60] He was also expelled from the party on 14 June. A Paris court reviewed the case on 14 June and ruled in Ciotti's favor, reinstating him as party leader and a member of the party.[61] Ciotti's decision to ally with the RN was endorsed by the leader of theLes Jeunes RépublicainsGuilhem Carayon and byMEPCéline Imart, a member of theFédération nationale des syndicats d'exploitants agricoles (FNSEA).[62]
Ciotti resigned from the party on 22 September,[63] instead leading theUnion of the Right for the Republic.
Although LR had previously promised not to participate in a government coalition after the2024 legislative election, they ultimately joined theBarnier government, led by an LR member.[64] After Michel Barnier's ousting, LR joined theBayrou government. In both governments,Ministry of Interior was occupied by formerSenate Republicans presidentBruno Retailleau.
On the political spectrum, LR are positioned on thecentre-right[65][66][67][68][69] toright-wing.[70][71][72][73][74][75] They are aconservative party,[76][77][78][79][5][80][81][82] and they have been also described asliberal-conservative due to their liberal stances;[2][3][4] they are also consideredChristian-democratic.[83] In addition, the party also maintains aGaullist[4][7][84] orneo-Gaullist[85][86][87][88] tradition.
LR have been described as experiencing a rightward turn underÉric Ciotti, their leader between December 2022 and September 2024, and his predecessorLaurent Wauquiez,[55][70] in an effort to distinguish the party fromEmmanuel Macron's presidency.[56]
![[icon]](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=https%3a%2f%2fen.wikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fFile%3aWiki_letter_w_cropped.svg) | This sectionneeds expansion with: other affiliated parties such asAmuitahira'a o te Nuna'a Maohi,Archipelago Tomorrow or L'Avenir en confiance. You can help byadding to it.(October 2022) |
In Guadeloupe, the Head of List of The Republicans isSonia Petro.[89] She has also served as the President of theFederation of Republicans of Guadeloupe.[90]
| No. | Name | Portrait | Began | Left |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Nicolas Sarkozy |  | 30 May 2015 | 23 August 2016 |
| — | Laurent Wauquiez | _(cropped).jpg) | 23 August 2016 | 29 November 2016 |
| Vacant from 29 November 2016 to 10 December 2017 | ||||
| 2 | Laurent Wauquiez | | 10 December 2017 | 2 June 2019 |
| — | Jean Leonetti | .jpg) | 2 June 2019 | 13 October 2019 |
| 3 | Christian Jacob | .jpg) | 13 October 2019 | 30 June 2022 |
| — | Annie Genevard |  | 30 June 2022 | 11 December 2022 |
| 4 | Éric Ciotti | .jpg) | 11 December 2022 | 22 September 2024 |
| Interim collegial leadership(François-Xavier Bellamy,Annie Genevard,Michèle Tabarot,Daniel Fasquelle) | 22 September 2024 | 18 May 2025 | ||
| 5 | Bruno Retailleau |  | 18 May 2025 | |
| No. | Name | Portrait | Began | Left |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Nathalie Kosciusko-Morizet |  | 30 May 2015 | 15 December 2015 |
| 2 | Laurent Wauquiez | | 15 December 2015 | 23 August 2016 |
| 29 November 2016 | 10 December 2017 | |||
| Isabelle Le Callennec |  | 15 December 2015 | 13 December 2017 | |
| 3 | Virginie Calmels |  | 13 December 2017 | 17 June 2018 |
| Guillaume Peltier |  | 7 December 2021 | ||
| Damien Abad |  | 23 October 2019 | ||
| 4 | Jean Leonetti | | 17 June 2018 | |
| 5 | Annie Genevard | | 6 July 2021 | 18 January 2023 |
| 6 | Aurélien Pradié | .jpg) | 18 January 2023 | 18 February 2023 |
| 7 | François-Xavier Bellamy | .JPG) | 18 February 2023 | Incumbent |
| No. | Name | Portrait | Began | Left |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Laurent Wauquiez | | 30 May 2015 | 15 December 2015 |
| 2 | Éric Woerth |  | 15 December 2015 | 29 November 2016 |
| 3 | Bernard Accoyer |  | 29 November 2016 | 13 December 2017 |
| 4 | Annie Genevard | | 13 December 2017 | 23 October 2019 |
| 5 | Aurélien Pradié | | 23 October 2019 | 18 January 2023 |
| (4) | Annie Genevard | | 18 January 2023 | 22 May 2025 |
| 6 | Othman Nasrou |  | 22 May 2025 | Incumbent |
| No. | Name | Portrait | Began | Left |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Daniel Fasquelle | .jpg) | 30 May 2015 | 22 May 2025 |
| 2 | Pierre Danon |  | 22 May 2025 | Incumbent |
| Election year | Candidate | 1st round | 2nd round | Result | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Votes | % | Rank | Votes | % | Rank | |||
| 2017 | François Fillon | 7,212,995 | 20.01 |  3rd | — | Lost | ||
| 2022 | Valérie Pécresse | 1,679,001 | 4.79 | 5th | — | Lost | ||
| Election year | Leader | 1st round | 2nd round | Seats | +/− | Rank (seats) | Government | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Votes | % | Votes | % | ||||||
| 2017 | François Baroin | 3,573,427 | 15.77 | 4,040,203 | 22.23 | 112 / 577 | 82 | 2nd | Opposition |
| 2022 | Christian Jacob | 2,370,811 | 10.42 | 1,447,838 | 6.98 | 61 / 577 | 51 | 4th | Opposition |
| 2024 | Éric Ciotti | 2,104,918 | 6.57 | 1,474,721 | 5.41 | 39 / 577 [a] | 22 |  4th | Presidential minority (2024) |
| Presidential minority (2024−2025) | |||||||||
| Presidential minority (2025) | |||||||||
| Support (2025−present) | |||||||||
| Election | Leader | Votes | % | Seats | +/− | EP Group |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019[b] | François-Xavier Bellamy | 1,920,407 | 8.48 (#4) | 7 / 79 | New | EPP |
| 2024[c] | 1,783,965 | 7.24 (#5) | 6 / 81 | 1 |
These moves would seem to point towards a strategy of siphoning off the RN voters as well those of the centre-right Les Républicains. However, as past elections have demonstrated, this strategy might bolster unintentionally Macron's political rivals.
Ahead of the 2017 presidential election, he won the centre-right Republican party's presidential primary, and in January 2017 was the clear frontrunner in the polls.
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