Édouard Philippe has already implemented his strategy for 2027

He should have been seen on Tuesday in the spans of the mayors’ lounge at the Porte de Versailles in Paris, biting into an apple, thus imitating his elder Jacques Chirac, elected president in 1995. The former Prime Minister Édouard Philippe goes on trips: Lyon, Limonest, Ecully (Rhône) last Friday, Rennes, Saint-Grégoire, and Saint-Malo (Ille-et-Vilaine) at the beginning of the month, the statesman makes the rounds of medium-sized towns, and multiplies interviews at the regional daily press.

Ready to make the necessary sacrifices

The mayor of Le Havre does not hide his ambitions for the presidential election of 2027 and is currently plowing the ground to meet the French. The “bulldozer Philippe”, nickname given by one of his supporters, therefore maintains his relationship with the French. It also receives and consults a number of local elected officials, the spearhead of its implementation strategy. Psychologically, those around him say he is prepared: “He is aware and ready to make the necessary sacrifices”, confides a loved one, whether financial or in his private life.

Finally, in his long-term strategy, his party, Horizons, has planned to clearly free itself from Emmanuel Macron in 2025. “We will then have a much more assertive voice”, slips a party executive, who hopes that the polls will then give him high enough to rally potential competitors to his cause. In the forefront of which Gérald Darmanin, with whom the former Prime Minister has excellent relations.