French political parties explained, from left to right

For the presidential election of 18 April and 2 May 2027, each candidate runs in their own name, but nearly all of them rely on a party or a movement: it provides the activists, the money, the elected officials who sponsor the candidacy and, often, the platform. This article presents the parties behind the eleven candidates in the test: where they come from, who leads them, their group in the National Assembly, their alliances and their candidate for 2027.

They are ordered from left to right according to our political compass, that is, according to the calculation made from their candidate's positions on the test statements. This order is not a label: it does not say how a party describes itself, nor how commentators classify it. How it is obtained is explained further down.

This article does not quote any opinion poll. The only electoral figures are official results (the Constitutional Council for the presidential election, the Ministry of the Interior for the legislative elections) and the group sizes published by the National Assembly. All figures are as of 20 October 2026.

French politics in brief

For readers who do not follow French politics closely, these are the rules that explain the parties' role.

• The President is elected by direct universal suffrage for five years and cannot serve more than two terms in a row: Emmanuel Macron, elected in 2017 and 2022, cannot run again. If no candidate wins an absolute majority of valid votes in the first round, the top two face each other in a run-off fourteen days later. The President appoints the Prime Minister and can dissolve the National Assembly.
• The National Assembly has 577 members, elected for five years in two-round, single-member constituencies. It passes laws and can bring down the government by adopting a motion of no confidence ("motion de censure"). Members sit in political groups of at least fifteen, which roughly match the parties.
• An Assembly without a majority since 2024. After a dissolution, the legislative elections of 30 June and 7 July 2024 gave no camp the absolute majority of 289 seats. Since then, governments have had to find votes bill by bill. Michel Barnier's government was brought down by a motion of no confidence on 4 December 2024; François Bayrou's fell in the National Assembly in September 2025, and Sébastien Lecornu was then appointed Prime Minister.
• No automatic legislative elections in 2027. Unless it is dissolved again, the current Assembly sits until 2029. The President elected in 2027 will be able to dissolve it. If the Assembly, the current one or a new one, has a majority opposed to the President, he or she in practice appoints a Prime Minister from that majority: this is cohabitation, which France has already experienced in 1986-1988, 1993-1995 and 1997-2002. Without a clear majority, as since 2024, the government has to find support for each bill.

The 2024 legislative elections

The Ministry of the Interior gives each candidate a "nuance", a political label. In 2024, the New Popular Front's candidates (LFI, PS, Les Écologistes, PCF and others) were grouped under the label "Union de la gauche" and those of the outgoing majority under "Ensemble".

Turnout was 66.71% in the first round and 66.63% in the second. The RN came first in votes in the first round, the Union de la gauche in seats: under the two-round majority system, seats depend on the second-round contests and withdrawals, not only on first-round votes.

Groups in the National Assembly today

After the election, members formed eleven groups. Their sizes have changed a little since 2024:

As of 20 October 2026, 574 members are sitting; the other three seats are vacant. Reconquête, Debout la France and Nouvelle Énergie have no group: their candidates are in the test under another criterion of our methodology.

How we order the parties

The test's political compass places each candidate on two axes, based on their positions on 35 of the test's 46 statements:

• the economic axis (from −100, left, to +100, right) is based on 15 statements on the economy and taxes, pensions, work and the cost of living, and health;
• the social axis (from −100, progressive, to +100, conservative) is based on 20 statements on immigration, security and justice, education, energy and climate, and society and secularism.

Here the parties are ordered by their candidate's economic axis, the only one of the two that runs from left to right. Three points to bear in mind:

• It is the candidate who is placed, not the party. The positions come from the candidate's statements and platforms, and often from the party's documents; they do not say what each of its elected officials thinks.
• Some positions are estimated, when the candidate has not addressed the question directly: the table gives how many. The methodology explains how they are made.
• On the social axis the order changes: from Marine Tondelier (−80.0) to Éric Zemmour (+80.0), with Gabriel Attal almost in the middle (−2.5). That is why the table gives both values.

Each political tradition is the one on the candidate's profile on this site. The values are our calculation, the same as on the political compass page. The Rassemblement national and Debout la France come before Reconquête and Renaissance because, of the 15 economic statements, Marine Le Pen sides with the left on 8, including going back to a legal retirement age of 62, and Nicolas Dupont-Aignan on 7. The statement-by-statement detail is in "Who is left and who is right".

The parties, from left to right

Each party is presented in the same way. The 2022 results are those of the first round of the presidential election (Constitutional Council).

1. La France insoumise (LFI)

• Origins: a movement launched in February 2016 by Jean-Luc Mélenchon for his 2017 presidential bid.
• Leadership: LFI has no president; Manuel Bompard has been its national coordinator since 2022.
• In the Assembly: La France insoumise - Nouveau Front Populaire group, 70 members, led by Mathilde Panot.
• Alliances: member of the New Popular Front in 2024. For 2027, neither the PS, nor Les Écologistes, nor the PCF back its candidate.
• Candidate in 2027: Jean-Luc Mélenchon, who announced his fourth bid on 3 May 2026 after a vote of LFI's elected officials.
• In 2022: Jean-Luc Mélenchon, 21.95% (third).

2. French Communist Party (PCF)

• Origins: founded in December 1920 at the Congress of Tours.
• Leadership: Fabien Roussel, national secretary since 2018, re-elected in July 2026.
• In the Assembly: Gauche Démocrate et Républicaine group, 17 members, communists and overseas members, led by Stéphane Peu.
• Alliances: member of the New Popular Front in 2024; its own candidate in 2027.
• Candidate in 2027: Fabien Roussel, chosen on 6 September 2026 by 72% of the members who voted.
• In 2022: Fabien Roussel, 2.28% (eighth).

3. Les Écologistes

• Origins: created in 2010 as Europe Écologie Les Verts (EELV), from the merger of Les Verts and Europe Écologie; the party took its current name in 2023.
• Leadership: Marine Tondelier, national secretary since 2022, re-elected in 2025.
• In the Assembly: Écologiste et Social group, 38 members, led by Cyrielle Chatelain.
• Alliances: member of the New Popular Front, which Marine Tondelier helped to create in 2024. The party does not back Raphaël Glucksmann.
• Candidate in 2027: Marine Tondelier, chosen in December 2025 for a primary of the left that never took place. Members will vote from 10 to 13 December 2026 on whether to keep her as their candidate or back a candidate from another left-wing party.
• In 2022: Yannick Jadot (EELV), 4.63%.

4. Socialist Party (PS) and Place publique

• Origins: the PS was founded in 1969, succeeding the SFIO; Place publique was co-founded in 2018 by Raphaël Glucksmann.
• Leadership: Olivier Faure, first secretary of the PS; Raphaël Glucksmann, co-president of Place publique.
• In the Assembly: Socialistes et apparentés group, 68 members, led by Boris Vallaud.
• Alliances: both parties signed the New Popular Front platform in 2024. For 2027 they held a primary with Emmanuel Maurel's Gauche républicaine et socialiste (GRS); LFI and Les Écologistes did not take part, and Raphaël Glucksmann calls any rapprochement with LFI an "absolute red line".
• Candidate in 2027: Raphaël Glucksmann, a Member of the European Parliament, who won that primary on 11 October 2026 with 66.17% of the vote.
• In 2022: Anne Hidalgo (PS), 1.75%; Place publique had no candidate.

5. Rassemblement national (RN)

• Origins: founded in October 1972 as the Front national; it has been called Rassemblement national since 2018.
• Leadership: Jordan Bardella, president since November 2022; Marine Le Pen led the party from 2011 to 2021.
• In the Assembly: Rassemblement National group, the largest, with 121 members, led by Marine Le Pen.
• Alliances: allied since the 2024 legislative elections with Éric Ciotti, whose party, the Union des droites pour la République (UDR), has a group of 17 members; Éric Ciotti was at Marine Le Pen's side when she presented her economic plan on 6 October 2026.
• Candidate in 2027: Marine Le Pen, who confirmed her candidacy on 7 July 2026 and has appealed to the Court of Cassation (see her profile).
• In 2022: Marine Le Pen, 23.15% (second), then 41.45% in the run-off.

6. Debout la France (DLF)

• Origins: launched in 1999 by Nicolas Dupont-Aignan within the RPR, as Debout la République. It later became a party in its own right and is now called Debout la France.
• Leadership: Nicolas Dupont-Aignan, president, mayor of Yerres (Essonne) and an MP from 1997 to 2024.
• In the Assembly: no group.
• Alliances: none for 2027. In 2017 he called for a vote for Marine Le Pen in the run-off, with a government agreement.
• Candidate in 2027: Nicolas Dupont-Aignan, declared on 8 March 2025; his fourth bid.
• In 2022: Nicolas Dupont-Aignan, 2.06% (ninth).

7. Reconquête

• Origins: founded on 5 December 2021 by Éric Zemmour, at the launch of his presidential campaign.
• Leadership: Éric Zemmour, president; MEP Sarah Knafo is the party's other leading figure.
• In the Assembly: no group.
• Alliances: none for 2027.
• Candidate in 2027: Éric Zemmour, who announced his candidacy on 17 September 2026; it is he, not Sarah Knafo, who will represent Reconquête.
• In 2022: Éric Zemmour, 7.07% (fourth).

8. Renaissance

• Origins: founded in April 2016 by Emmanuel Macron as En Marche, which became La République en marche in 2017 and Renaissance in 2022.
• Leadership: Gabriel Attal, secretary-general since December 2024.
• In the Assembly: Ensemble pour la République group, 90 members, led by Gabriel Attal.
• Alliances: together with the MoDem (Les Démocrates group) and Horizons it forms the "central bloc", which governed from 2024 with Les Républicains in the "socle commun" (see below).
• Candidate in 2027: Gabriel Attal, endorsed by the party's national council, declared on 22 May 2026. He and Édouard Philippe both say they want their camp to unite by early 2027; for now each is keeping his candidacy.
• In 2022: Emmanuel Macron, 27.85% (first), re-elected with 58.55% in the run-off.

9. Les Républicains (LR)

• Origins: the name taken in May 2015 by the UMP, founded in 2002.
• Leadership: Bruno Retailleau, president since May 2025 and senator for Vendée.
• In the Assembly: Droite Républicaine group, 47 members, led by Laurent Wauquiez.
• Alliances: part of the socle commun from 2024; Bruno Retailleau was Minister of the Interior from September 2024 to October 2025. For 2027: "There is no question of me rallying behind the candidates who are heirs to Macronism" (September 2026).
• Candidate in 2027: Bruno Retailleau, declared on 12 February 2026 and chosen on 19 April 2026 by 73.8% of the members who voted.
• In 2022: Valérie Pécresse, 4.78%.

10. Nouvelle Énergie

• Origins: created in 2013 according to the party, and rolled out across France from 9 June 2021.
• Leadership: David Lisnard, president, mayor of Cannes and president of the Association of Mayors of France.
• In the Assembly: no group.
• Alliances: David Lisnard left Les Républicains on 31 March 2026. He calls for an open primary of the right and centre, without the RN, and rules out any alliance with that party.
• Candidate in 2027: David Lisnard, declared on 31 March 2026.
• In 2022: no candidate.

11. Horizons

• Origins: founded on 9 October 2021 in Le Havre by Édouard Philippe.
• Leadership: Édouard Philippe announced that he would step down as the party's executive president on 1 October 2026; Christophe Béchu is its secretary-general.
• In the Assembly: Horizons & Indépendants group, 35 members, led by Laurent Marcangeli.
• Alliances: part of the central bloc and the socle commun. In September 2026, Édouard Philippe proposed a "confederation of parties" of the right and centre, with joint candidates in legislative elections.
• Candidate in 2027: Édouard Philippe, declared on 3 September 2024, campaign launched on 5 July 2026.
• In 2022: no candidate.

Alliances: from the New Popular Front to the socle commun

The New Popular Front (NFP) was formed in June 2024, right after the dissolution: LFI, the PS, Les Écologistes, the PCF, Place publique and other parties fielded joint candidates and a "legislative contract". Candidates under the Union de la gauche label won 178 seats, the largest number, but not a majority. In the Assembly, these members sit in four separate groups (LFI, Socialists, Greens, GDR). For 2027, the joint primary planned for autumn 2026 was abandoned in July: the NFP parties now have four candidates in the test, and Les Écologistes will decide in December whether to keep theirs.

The socle commun ("common base") is the name given to the alliance of the central bloc (Renaissance, MoDem, Horizons, UDI) with Les Républicains, set up by Michel Barnier in 2024. It has never had an absolute majority: the four groups concerned (Ensemble pour la République, Les Démocrates, Horizons & Indépendants and Droite Républicaine) have 209 members between them as of 20 October 2026, according to our sum of the sizes published by the Assembly. Three candidates in the test come from it: Gabriel Attal, Édouard Philippe and Bruno Retailleau. David Lisnard, a former vice-president of LR, left the party in March 2026 because, in his view, it "has not cleared up its ambiguities, particularly towards the Macron camp".

The RN and Éric Ciotti joined forces in the 2024 legislative elections: Éric Ciotti, then president of Les Républicains, fielded joint candidates with the RN (the Ministry's UXD label, 17 seats). His party, the UDR, now has a group of 17 members and backs Marine Le Pen. Reconquête and Debout la France are running without allies in 2027.

Find out more

• A profile of each candidate, with their main proposals: "The 2027 French presidential candidates explained".
• Every position, with its source: the candidate pages and the comparison. You can also compare two candidates from the same part of the political spectrum, for example Raphaël Glucksmann and Marine Tondelier, Édouard Philippe and Gabriel Attal, Bruno Retailleau and David Lisnard or Marine Le Pen and Éric Zemmour.
• The timetable, sponsorships and ways to vote: the 2027 presidential election guide.

To find out which candidate, and so which party, your views are closest to, take the test.