In a context marked by crises, Édouard Philippe and Gabriel Attal, who both suffered from having been Emmanuel Macron's Prime Minister, failed to assert themselves in the presidential campaign and, six months before the election, did not appear able, according to the polls, to qualify for the second round. Tensions are now increasing over which of the two should withdraw in favor of the other to preserve the chances of the “central bloc”.

Published on: 06/11/2026 - 10:10

While the big day of social mobilization was taking place, Thursday November 5, Édouard Philippe was at the Euronaval show, an event dedicated to naval defense and maritime security equipment. An important subject and directly linked to the sovereign powers of the President of the Republic that he wishes to become, but very far from the social movement which occupied the media throughout the day.

This is not the first time that the Horizons candidate for the 2027 presidential election seems disconnected from what the country is experiencing. Already, during the first day of national mobilization on September 29, when the high school movement joined the public service union processions, it had chosen this day to present its pension reform project. How many French people now know that the former Prime Minister of Emmanuel Macron (2017-2020) proposes to set the legal retirement age at 65 with 45 annuities? Obviously, not many people.

If he now finds the high school students' demands legitimate, Édouard Philippe initially mocked them, evoking signs on October 1 during a trip to Haute-Savoie that said "8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. is too much" or "The canteen is not good". “I am not sure that demands of this nature justify burning down a high school,” he then judged.

"The social crisis and the high school crisis arrived for him at a very bad time. We are in a period where, usually, the candidates show their cards, display their proposals. And just as he was starting to do that, this gigantic crisis arises, making any proposal inaudible. Rather than reacting to what is happening, Édouard Philippe has made a choice that he claims: that of moving forward at his own pace. He is betting that it will please someone electorate large enough to access the second round", analyzes political scientist Bruno Cautres, researcher at the Sciences-Po Political Research Center (Cevipof).

However, the bet seems to be off to a bad start. Less than six months before the first round of the presidential election, the situation is serious for the mayor of Le Havre, who continues, month after month, to fall in voting intentions. While he has long been given as the big favorite to appear in the second round against Marine Le Pen, he is now systematically overtaken in opinion studies by Jean-Luc Mélenchon. The latest Ifop poll for LCI, published Tuesday November 3, even puts it below 10% for the first time in the event that Gabriel Attal maintains his position.

“Édouard Philippe is not quite capable of qualifying for the second round,” admitted the Minister of Justice, Gérald Darmanin, who has supported him since the end of August, noting “a danger for us and for him” and calling on the president of Renaissance, Gabriel Attal, to withdraw from the race for the Élysée.

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Philippe accused of racism, Attal of security abuses

To make matters worse, Édouard Philippe is now accused by the left and by former Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin of having made racist remarks during an interview with the magazine Le Point on October 27 and then of having reiterated them on 8 p.m. on TF1 on November 1.

"During the violence of October 18, the over-representation of young people from immigrant backgrounds was obvious. In the words of Péguy, we have to 'see what we see'. The failure of integration in our country for several decades is incontestable. Which in no way minimizes certain superb republican integration successes!" declared Édouard Philippe in the weekly, then on TF1.

Also read: Trappes attack: “There is continuity between hate speech and actions”

An observation which is not based on any figures from the Ministry of Justice or any other factual element, all in a context where the racist remarks of the extreme right have been strongly denounced since the racist terrorist attack committed on October 23 by Kévin T. in Trappes and La Verrière.

Seeing this as a way to differentiate itself from the Horizons candidate, the Attal camp joined the criticism. The MP and supporter of the Renaissance candidate, Prisca Thévenot, deplored Tuesday evening on LCI the use by Édouard Philippe of the expression "French with an immigrant background". “At what generation do we stop being considered immigrants?” she asked.

"It's not that surprising to see Édouard Philippe make these comments because he is a candidate who has always asserted a right-wing identity. However, an electoral campaign is a competitive space and his strategy consists of bringing towards him the electorate of the Les Républicains party who sees that the campaign of his candidate, Bruno Retailleau, is also slipping. For his part, Gabriel Attal is positioned in the center, so there is coherence", analyzes Bruno Cautres.

It is not certain that this criticism aimed at his direct competitor within the "central bloc" will nevertheless allow the other former Prime Minister of Emmanuel Macron (2024) to relaunch his campaign. Gabriel Attal is even further behind than Édouard Philippe in the polls and has also been the target of criticism.

His security proposals, in particular, after the scenes of chaos of October 17, – mobilization of the army, use of drones, facial recognition and suspension of social networks – have been singled out for being closer to those of the extreme right than to the progressivism to which he claims to be.

“They supported Macron and now have to deal with his legacy”

The context of the high school movement doesn't help either. Gabriel Attal was in 2018 the rapporteur of the law that established Parcoursup and his short stint as Minister of Education in 2023 was marked more by his fight against the wearing of the abaya than by his desire to reduce the number of absent teachers who were not replaced.

The situation is all the more complex for the candidate of the president's party, often described as the incarnation of Macronism, as he also wishes to perpetuate Emmanuel Macron's strategy of coming together beyond the right-left divide, when Édouard Philippe stands out from it and positions himself more as a right-wing candidate.

"We can clearly see that it is very difficult for candidates from what we call the 'common base' not to be affected by the record of the Head of State. They all supported Emmanuel Macron and participated in his action. They must now deal with his legacy", underlines Bruno Cautres.

The two former heads of government now accuse each other of being Macronist. During his appearance on TF1 at 8 p.m., Édouard Philippe criticized Gabriel Attal for being the “continuer of Macronism”. Gabriel Attal's entourage responds that Édouard Philippe was for his part "the instigator of macronism".

Result: while neither of them seems able to access the second round of the presidential election at the moment, tensions are escalating over which of the two should withdraw in favor of the other to preserve the chances of the centrist family.

Édouard Philippe believes that the polls should encourage Gabriel Attal to give up, but the latter now insists on organizing a primary extended to the right to Bruno Retailleau and David Lisnard, or even to the left to Raphaël Glucksmann. “I do not believe that this primary will take place,” the mayor of Le Havre replied on November 1.

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