Wauquiez calls the right's infighting a bloodbath and demands a single candidate before Christmas

The right is choking on its number of candidates, and Laurent Wauquiez wants to blow the final whistle. Appearing on the programme "Franc-Jeu" on France Inter and France 2 on Sunday 8 November, the head of the Droite républicaine group in the National Assembly called for a single candidate before Christmas.

It is a bloodbath and the massacre must stop, said the MP for Haute-Loire. He is asking the declared candidates of the right and centre to meet within fifteen days to agree on a method. His terms: one candidate, one programme and a clear break with Macronism.

Primary, poll or conclave

Wauquiez leaves the contenders to choose how to pick their champion: a primary, a poll or a conclave. His own preference is a primary. He will not be on the starting line himself: there are already enough candidates, he admits.

On who should be included, he insists on a candidate firmly on the right. He noted that David Lisnard, Bruno Retailleau and Édouard Philippe all rule out Sarah Knafo and her Reconquête party. As for Gabriel Attal, he can take part if he champions a right and centre-right programme. But if the idea is to bring together everyone from Raphaël Glucksmann to Bruno Retailleau, his answer is no, he said.

The leader of the LR MPs makes no secret of his closeness to Retailleau's programme, calling him a very good candidate. But in his view, nothing will work as long as several candidates stay in the race. Back in July, he had reached out to Édouard Philippe.

66 parliamentarians call for a primary

The same weekend, pressure came from the centrist bloc. In an op-ed published by La Tribune Dimanche, 66 parliamentarians called for a "primary of democrats and republicans" to avoid a run-off between La France insoumise and the Rassemblement national. They include 51 Renaissance MPs, six senators from the same party and four MEPs, joined notably by UDI MP Laurent Mazaury and MoDem MP Richard Ramos.

The signatories list shared values, from secularism to European integration, but do not specify who could compete. There is still time to pull ourselves together, they write.

Philippe still opposed

The idea of a primary is now backed by Lisnard, Attal and Retailleau. But the frontrunner in this political space, Édouard Philippe, again rejected the principle on Saturday. Its scope also divides supporters: some want to exclude Lisnard, others to include Glucksmann, who is not interested.

What happens next

The deadline set by Wauquiez runs until the end of November. Without a deal, the right and centre risk heading into winter divided, a little over five months before the first round, scheduled for 18 April 2027.