Former Prime Minister Gabriel Attal has his eye on a candidacy in the 2027 presidential election. He wants to “meet the French people” before making a decision. This strategy is not new.
Gabriel Attal’s first book will be released on Friday, April 23. On this occasion, he says he wants to meet the French people before deciding on his presidential candidacy. “I want to spend several weeks traveling all over France, talking with them.” This is what Gabriel Attal stated on Sunday in the program 7 to 8 on TF1. By starting his tour of France, he is stepping up his game for the presidential election.
A way to soften his somewhat Parisian image?
It is. But this is not new. Meeting the French people in the regions to show that one is close to the people, not locked in an ivory tower, is a classic strategy. And it dates back to the monarchy. Since the kings of France were constantly traveling. Paris was the capital, yes, but the king had no fixed residence in Paris. There was no official palace, like today with the Elysee Palace. The king spent his time on the road. With all of his court, ministers, servants, furniture, clothing, and tableware. It was a real caravan.
They would go from castle to castle and from city to city. And when the king arrived in a city, it was a grand ceremony. This was called the “Joyous Entry.” Generally, all the city officials were there, there was a banquet. Sometimes, a small triumphal arch was even built to honor the king.
Will this tradition be continued by future presidents of the Republic?
Indeed, even by our very first president of the Republic. It was Louis-Napoleon Bonaparte, elected in 1848. He would later become emperor under the name of Napoleon III. And when he was president, he quickly started to travel the country. He did this by train, since it was the early days of the railway. When he arrived in the cities, there were fireworks and military parades. In 22 years, he traveled to all regions of France, covering over 5,000 km.
The goal was clear. To show that one does not belong to the Parisian elite, and that one is part of the people. Louis-Napoleon Bonaparte didn’t hide it. In 1852, while visiting Saint-Quentin, he spoke with workers. And he said to them: “My most sincere friends are not in the palaces, they are in the workshops, in the countryside.” A bit of populism already.
It will later become a true political tradition
It will even become the foundation for presidential candidates. For example, at the end of World War II, General de Gaulle returned to France in 1944. And one of the first things he did, when not all Germans had left the territory yet, was a tour of France: Lyon, Marseille, Toulouse, Bordeaux, Orleans, Besancon, etc. He arrived in uniform, attended a military parade, and gave a speech. This symbolized the restoration of the Republic’s authority across the entire territory.
