In some weeks, it feels like the end of an era. This one has that taste. A Prime Minister stuck in the National Assembly, moving forward at the risk of getting more bogged down. A president confined to international matters to maintain relevance. The five-year term continues, but the momentum is broken, as if the political clock had already shifted elsewhere.
In this leadership vacuum, a survey by Elabe for La Tribune Dimanche stirs things up: which president do the French people really want? The answer is stark: 53% see no one. More than half of the French population remains distant from a political offering that is nonetheless widespread, saturated with books, meetings, and stage appearances. It’s a black hole. It’s also an opportunity for those who can inhabit it.
Because the expectations are crystal clear. Honesty reigns, overwhelmingly (76%). Speaking the truth, even when it disturbs. Especially when it disturbs. Next comes proximity (55%), the ability to speak with the French people rather than above them. Then courage (48%) and determination (46%). Four words like a program, or rather like an indictment against years of calculated caution and ambiguity. The ideal age continues to decrease: 47 years old. France is aging, but it wants to believe in a new energy at the top.
Meanwhile, the stage is being set. Gabriel Attal and Bruno Le Maire publish books. A ritual gesture of those who want to exist in the debate without fully engaging in it yet. Bruno Retailleau consults his supporters using the patient builder’s method. François Hollande prepares with the tranquility of men who have nothing to lose.
Jean-Luc Mélenchon loudly presses the accelerator, as if speed alone were a program. Édouard Philippe, on the other hand, has crossed the re-election hurdle in Le Havre and can display the calm authority of a winning mayor. In the National Rally, Marine Le Pen and Jordan Bardella attempt a big leap: she lunches with bosses, he presents his fiancée in a staging that speaks volumes about the normalization efforts being made.
Monumental in the polls but walled off in their political isolation, they seek a way out of the ghetto without renouncing what has kept them there. But beyond this dance, a reality asserts itself. The priorities of the French people are known: purchasing power, security, health. Different expectations according to the voter bases, but a common demand: something concrete. Something palpable. Results.
However, in 2027, this reality will be tough. Choices will need to be made. Rethink certain welfare state benefits? Probably. Extend efforts on pensions? Likely. Confront the impact of AI on work? Inevitable. Face the demographic challenge head-on? Essential.
The year ahead is not just an ordinary campaign. It is a year of truth. For those claiming to govern, they are summoned to finally say what they will do. And for the French people, they are called to choose with full knowledge. This time, truly.
