According to early polling, he looked to be comfortably the best-placed centrist candidate to beat the far right in the next presidential election. But more recent polling suggested his lead over former Prime Minister Gabriel Attal and conservative leader Bruno Retailleau was narrowing. Both been campaigning hard to overtake Philippe.
During his hour-long speech in Reims, Philippe sketched out his aims for the campaign: lowering taxes on turnover for French companies, reducing France’s public deficit, rebalancing the state pension system and fighting crime and drug trafficking.
Philippe lashed out at both the National Rally and the far-left France Unbowed of Jean-Luc Mélenchon accusing them of selling lies and “dangerous ideas” to the French.
“Look at what the U.S. president, whom Mr. Bardella so admires, is doing to the buying power of the American middle classes through his tariffs and his wars in the Middle East,” he said.
“Populism always backfires on the people.”
His speech however remained short of details, particularly on the explosive topics such as France’s legal age of retirement and how he planned to cut public spending.
He vowed, however, that he would make proposals in the coming months.