Bruno Retayo, former French Interior Minister and leader of the center-right Republican party, the Républicains, will run in the 2027 presidential election, sources close to him have said.
Retayo is the latest political figure to try to seize office following the departure of President Emmanuel Macron.
A conservative senator from the Vendée department in western France, 65-year-old Retayo was interior minister from 2024 to 2025 - first in the government of former Prime Minister Michel Barnier and then in the administration of François Bayrou, Reuters recalls.
He was reappointed when current Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu took office last October, but resigned shortly afterwards, expressing anger over Lecornu's other cabinet personnel decisions.
The episode, which also led Lecornu to resign before Macron reappointed him, damaged Retayo's political standing, Reuters reports.
Polls show that Retayo has a tough path to victory in the presidential election, but he leads a party with a strong parliamentary bloc, making him likely to be an important negotiating partner for presidential rivals - particularly the far-right National Rally, led by Marine Le Pen - if Retayo fails to reach the second round.
Retayo is a staunch advocate of a tough immigration policy and has spent much of his time at the Interior Ministry trying to increase deportations and crack down on drug crime. However, he may struggle to clearly distinguish himself from the far-right National Front, led by Le Pen and her protégé Jordan Bardella, who are strongly positioned in the polls thanks to their focus on these issues.
Since leaving the government, Retayo has been highly critical of the executive branch, resenting, among other things, the concessions Lecornu made to the Socialist Party in order to pass the 2026 budget and avoid the fall of the government.
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