French Socialist Party presidential primary winner Raphaël Glucksmann appears intent on running the political playbook of President Emmanuel Macron, pitching himself as the only candidate who can defeat the rise of Trumpism in the form of Marine Le Pen and the far-left of Jean-Luc Mélenchon.
Member of the European Parliament (MEP) and leader of the Social Democrat Place Publique (PP) political party Raphaël Glucksmann dominated the Socialist Party (PS) primary held over the weekend, winning 66.17 per cent of the vote on Sunday evening, handily defeating Socialist Party First Secretary Olivier Faure with just 14.46 per cent of the vote, and former presidential candidate Ségolène Royal with only 7.62 per cent of the vote, Le Monde reported.
Glucksmann, the son of a prominent liberal intellectual and the grandson of a literal Soviet spy, urged the “democratic left” to rally around his candidacy for the 2027 presidential election to replace Emmanuel Macron, who is barred from running due to term limits. Although he has sought to differentiate himself from Macron on issues such as climate change and social spending, Glucksmann shares many of the outgoing president’s positions, particularly his focus on support for Ukraine, European expansionism, and so-called international law.
However, perhaps the greatest similarity between the two is their political strategy, with the 46-year-old MEP looking to replicate Macron’s past success in rallying the centrist vote by stoking fear of the supposed “far-right” and hard left. In an address to supporters in Paris on Sunday evening, Glucksmann said, according to Le Figaro, that he is the only candidate who “can defeat our age-old enemy: the far right”.
“Our real adversary is the far right, and we will unite to go into battle,” he said, urging voters to support him to “prevent the Trump supporters, the Putin supporters, the xenophobes, and the demagogues from seizing control of the Republic.”
Glucksmann had been one of the public facing members of the New Popular Front (Nouveau Front populaire, NFP) left-wing election alliance in 2024 which saw the centre-left social democrats pair with Macron’s neo-liberals and the far-left La France Insoumise (LFI) of radical presidential candidate Jean-Luc Mélenchon to prevent Le Pen from taking power in the National Assembly. The alliance ultimately broke down over Mélenchon’s hardline anti-Israel stance and refusal to condemn Hamas terrorists after the October 7th attacks, which Glucksmann and others declared to be unacceptable and a dealbreaker for cooperation.
Unlike Socialist Party First Secretary Olivier Faure, who has argued for reviving the alliance with the Mélenchon camp, Glucksmann said after his primary victory that “there will be no agreement with LFI, but there will be an agreement with the republican left… the democratic left is back, and it will win the presidential election.”
Yet, despite his apparent confidence, Glucksmann faces a tough road ahead if he is to pass the first round of voting scheduled for April 18 of next year, leaving him just six months to boost his support and secure one of the two slots in the second and final round.
A Toluna Harris Interactive poll published on Monday confirmed anti-mass migration leader Marine Le Pen’s longstanding first-round dominance at between 35 and 37 per cent support, depending on the opponents included. Meanwhile, Mélenchon’s surge appears to be holding, with the far-left leader cementing himself in second place at between 18 and 19 per cent, followed by neo-liberal establishment mayor of Le Havre Édouard Philippe at between 13 and 17 per cent.
For his part, Glucksmann is currently in fourth, with between 10 and 11 per cent support, depending on the matchups. This puts him ahead of former Prime Minister Gabriel Attal, who is also vying for the centre-left vote and who has openly cast himself as Macron’s political heir.
If Glucksmann fails to improve his poll numbers, former President François Hollande could also enter the race as a supposed saviour candidate for the Socialist Party, despite publicly congratulating Glucksmann on Sunday after abstaining from throwing his own hat in the ring for the primary.
However, if Glucksmann fends off Mélenchon and the Macronist camp in the first round, he may be best positioned to challenge Le Pen in the second round, given his appeal to left-wing voters and pro-EU centrists.
The Place Publique leader may also benefit from favourable coverage in France’s establishment legacy media. Indeed, an undercover recording published last year purported to show two prominent journalists from France’s public media sector discussing how to skew their coverage in favour of Glucksmann to fend off the far-left and put him in a position to beat Le Pen.
The MEP’s longtime romantic partner, Lebanese-Armenian journalist Léa Salamé, is also one of the country’s top news anchors, hosting the influential prime-time Journal de 20 heures programme on public broadcaster France 2.
Glucksmann may also benefit from support from the labour movement, with CGT General Secretary Sophie Binet, head of one of the country’s top trade union confederations, saying he “clearly won” the primary and that the “left needs to unite to win” and “beat the far-right”.
Others on the left were less impressed with his primary victory, with LFI Mayor of Saint-Denis Bally Bagayoko calling it the “champagne socialist primary” and Glucksmann the “new Macron”.