Credits: Nicolas Richoffer / Wikimedia Commons — CC BY-SA 4.0.
Édouard Philippe, a politician who has enjoyed peaks of popularity, is moving full speed ahead toward the next presidential election. Vitiligo and alopecia have not dulled the bearing of this man with the steady voice. Since that statement to Le Point on September 3, 2024, France knows. The former Prime Minister is no longer hiding his intentions. He will be a candidate in the 2027 presidential election.
Le Havre, his home port, remains his anchor. There, where he finds the simple everyday life of the people of Normandy, Philippe charts his course. At 53, he has made this city, a symbol of his political resilience, a power base. The mayor of Le Havre is also a former Prime Minister. He managed, as best he could, the Yellow Vest crisis. In addition, he faced the Covid-19 pandemic and an unfinished pension reform. His time at Matignon forged in him a certain gravity. Politics is anything but light for this man cut from rock.
He has never been one to shy away from action: "What I will propose will be massive," he stated firmly. A warning aimed at skeptics. Philippe knows the 2027 election will be decided on titanic issues. Heavy words weigh on his shoulders: democratic, budgetary, and security risks. The shadow of an unstable France worries him. His program, still to be drawn up, will rest on deep reforms. Change is needed. Action is needed. That is what matters to him.
But who is Édouard Philippe, really? This graduate of ÉNA and Sciences Po was first a fervent supporter of Michel Rocard of the Socialist Party. Then, in an unexpected move, he turned to the right, joining Alain Juppé to found the UMP in 2002. Loyalty is his guiding thread, but it is not foolproof. When Juppé fails, Philippe takes off, building his own path.
In May 2017, Emmanuel Macron chose him. A former opponent in his camp. A rarity under the Fifth Republic. Prime Minister at 46, he faced an unprecedented challenge. France was shaken. The Yellow Vest movement, which erupted in 2018, put Philippe to the test. His firm, sometimes criticized handling of it, did not make him flinch. When the Covid-19 pandemic struck, he held steady, with his calculated coolness. At his side, France weathered the storm.
After leaving Matignon in 2020, Philippe stayed in the background, but his shadow still loomed large. Horizons, his party, was born in 2021. A political space dedicated to rebuilding the right, far from partisan divides that are too narrow for his taste. This party became the instrument of his presidential strategy. Philippe is patient. He watches, analyzes, while weaving his discreet alliances. The dissolution of the National Assembly in 2024, a decision by Macron, hastened the hour of rupture. The political bond between the two men frays, but Philippe remains a distant ally, yet very much present.
From now on, his ambitions are set on 2027. His candidacy is no surprise. It is no less significant for that. "For a presidential race, you must not want anything else," he says. That sentence says it all. The man is ready. Édouard Philippe is resolute, fully turned toward the future.
His rise is that of a discreet but still powerful man. His background in public affairs and at Areva gave him a sharp sense of economic and environmental issues. However, some criticize him for his handling of nuclear power. But Philippe is not one to back down. An amateur boxer, he loves confrontation, in the ring as much as in the political arena.
With hair and a beard now gone, this radical physical change may reflect a new phase of his public life. Appearance is only a detail for the man who dreams of leading France into a new era. Political attacks are flying, but Édouard Philippe is far from being rattled by them. The challenge is great. He is ready to take it on.