Raphaël Glucksmann officially declared his candidacy for France's 2027 presidential election on Sunday evening, after three months of deliberation. The leader of the Place Publique party said he believed he had the vision needed to help France recover, speaking on TF1's evening news broadcast.
Before he can pursue that goal, the member of the European Parliament must first win a primary organised by his own movement and the Socialist Party, set for October.
For months, Glucksmann dismissed the idea of a left-wing primary, calling it a party-apparatus exercise that produces a watered-down consensus. He was ultimately forced to take part, aware that he could not run a presidential campaign without the resources, activists and experience of the Socialist Party. A senior Socialist Party official said that without the party's backing, he would have had no chance.
Glucksmann is seen as the clear favourite against the candidates who have declared so far: Ségolène Royal, the former Socialist presidential candidate now making a political comeback, and Socialist Party deputies Philippe Brun and Jérôme Guedj, neither of whom currently matches his public profile.
A risky campaign
His most formidable rival is expected to be Olivier Faure, leader of the Socialist Party, whose candidacy is anticipated. The same party official said Glucksmann had powerful support within the Socialist Party and remained the favourite, adding that it was hard to imagine Place Publique activists voting for Faure, though the reverse would likely be true.
Glucksmann, who has twice run under Socialist Party colours in European Parliament elections, starts with a comfortable lead. Place Publique says it has 10,000 committed members.
He will still need to win over a share of the roughly 40,000 Socialist Party members the party claims. Uncertainty also remains over how many unaffiliated sympathisers will take part, as they can vote by paying 15 euros, and what their political leanings will be.
A Socialist Party deputy said an election is never won in advance, that Glucksmann does not have unanimous support, and that he could indeed lose.
A target for rivals
By entering the primary, the Place Publique leader also risks greater exposure. His status as favourite could make him a target for opponents in upcoming debates.
Philippe Brun, the deputy for the Eure department, has already begun attacking him in recent weeks. Writing on the social media platform X, Brun said he would arrive at the first debate with mud on his shoes from the soil of the Neubourg plateau, which he said Glucksmann appeared to look down on. The remark followed a jibe in the press from a Glucksmann supporter.
Romain Eskenazi, a Socialist deputy who is running Brun's campaign, said it was normal for a challenger to mark differences with the frontrunner. He added that such attacks were part of the campaign, that they tested a candidate's resilience and could make him stronger, and that if Glucksmann could not beat Brun, he would not be able to beat Édouard Philippe, the former French prime minister.
Risk of a 'stop Glucksmann' front
By taking part in the internal primary, Glucksmann also risks seeing an anything-but-Glucksmann front emerge in a second round of voting, which could trip him up.
Aurore Lalucq, the MEP who co-chairs Place Publique, responded that going into a campaign meant fearing nothing. She said Glucksmann might end up at the centre of the debate, but that this would be more of an honour than a risk, adding that he wanted to compete and was best placed to convince and unite the left.
Televised debates between the candidates could also prove decisive. A poor performance in a televised debate against Eric Zemmour, the far-right politician and commentator, on the channel LCI in late 2025 had raised doubts about his candidacy.
