PARIS — Former French Prime Minister Gabriel Attal announced Friday that he will join the increasingly crowded race for president next year.
“Since I profoundly love France and I profoundly love the French people, yes, I have decided to be a candidate to the presidency of the Republic,” Attal, the leader of French President Emmanuel Macron’s party, Renaissance, said at the conclusion of an event in the picturesque village of Mur-de-Barrez in southern France.
The 37-year-old politician must now mount a concerted effort to separate himself from a cluttered cast of candidates, including fellow former Prime Minister Edouard Philippe, conservative leader Bruno Retailleau and potentially former President François Hollande.
Recent polls have shown Philippe in the strongest position to defeat whoever runs from the far-right National Rally, which is currently leading in polls but must wait to choose a candidate until an appeals court rules on Marine Le Pen’s embezzlement conviction. Should the court bar Le Pen from running when it rules on July 7, National Rally President Jordan Bardella would run instead.
However, a lot can change between now and when voters head to the polls in less than a year. And Attal made it clear that he believes he can win with a campaign focused on “optimism” that believes France’s best days lie ahead.
“It will take hard work, it will require making choices, it will require making decisions, and it will require the strength to take action, but with that strength, everything is possible,” Attal said.
Attal’s decision to launch his campaign in the French countryside reflects his desire to distance himself from the Parisian elite and the French capital where he grew up. In recent weeks, Attal, who was also budget and education minister under Macron, has been touring the French countryside on a book tour and visiting European capitals such as Athens, Brussels, Kyiv and The Hague.
With his announcement Friday, Attal becomes France’s first high-profile openly gay presidential candidate. He acknowledged the historical weight of his bid for the Elysée in his speech by praising France as a republic that “allows each and every one of us to be treated as equals, regardless of our origins, regardless of our beliefs, regardless of the color of our skin, regardless of whom we love.”
Despite leading Macron’s party, Attal and the president are not on good terms. The two fell out after Macron’s surprise decision to dissolve parliament in 2024. Attal, who was prime minister at the time, was not consulted and was eventually forced to leave as head of government.
And during France’s political crisis in the fall of 2025, Attal said publicly he “no longer understands” Macron’s decisions and accused his former mentor of “wanting to hold onto power” despite having lost the snap elections.
