Who is left and who is right: the candidates on the compass

The political compass has two axes. The economic axis measures the role the state should play in the economy: taxes, public spending, pensions, wages, health. The social axis measures values and public order: immigration, security and justice, schools, energy and climate, secularism. The map of the candidates is on the political compass page. Here we look at which positions put each candidate where they are.

How the position is calculated

Each candidate's positions on the test statements go through the same formula that places you, as if the candidate had taken the test. Each answer becomes a number from −100 (left or progressive) to +100 (right or conservative), and the position on each axis is their average.

The economic axis covers the topics "Economy, taxes and debt", "Pensions", "Work and cost of living" and "Health" (15 statements). The social axis covers "Immigration", "Security and justice", "Education and youth", "Energy, climate and farming" and "Society, secularism and regions" (20 statements). "Europe", "Foreign affairs and defence" and "Institutions and democracy" (11 statements) do not count on the compass.

Which way "strongly agree" pushes you is decided by reference candidates. On the economic axis, Jean-Luc Mélenchon and Fabien Roussel are on the left, and David Lisnard and Édouard Philippe on the right. On the social axis, Marine Tondelier and Raphaël Glucksmann are on the progressive side, and Éric Zemmour and Bruno Retailleau on the conservative side. If both groups answer a statement in almost the same way (their averages differ by less than half a point), the direction is unclear and the statement does not count on the compass. In the French test this did not happen with any of the 35 statements: the smallest gap between the two groups is one point.

Two caveats. First, because the reference candidates set the direction, Jean-Luc Mélenchon and Fabien Roussel are partly on the left by definition, and Éric Zemmour and Bruno Retailleau partly conservative by definition. The compass does not say who is "really" left-wing; it shows how far each candidate goes, and on which issues. Second, the compass on the site uses all of a candidate's positions, including those marked as estimated because no explicit document backs them. Of the 35 statements on the two axes, that means one position for Marine Tondelier, three for Marine Le Pen and Bruno Retailleau, and eight for Nicolas Dupont-Aignan, Raphaël Glucksmann and David Lisnard. The more there are, the less certain the place on the map. Below, we only mention positions that have a source.

The eleven candidates on the compass

A minus sign means left or progressive; a plus sign, right or conservative. This is our own calculation from the candidates' positions as of 19 October 2026, the same one shown on the compass page.

Which way some statements point

Because the direction comes from the reference candidates, a few statements count in ways that may be surprising. They are worth bearing in mind when reading the map:

• "France should build new nuclear reactors." On the progressive side, Marine Tondelier strongly disagrees and Raphaël Glucksmann strongly agrees; on the conservative side, both strongly agree. Agreeing therefore counts as conservative. Fabien Roussel and Raphaël Glucksmann, who support nuclear power, are pulled that way on this statement.
• "Social media should be banned for children under 15." The progressive reference candidates are slightly more in favour than the conservative ones, so agreeing counts as progressive. Gabriel Attal, who championed the ban, gains a progressive point here; Jean-Luc Mélenchon, who opposes it, a conservative one.
• "Parcoursup should be scrapped." (Parcoursup is the national platform for university admissions.) Agreeing counts as progressive; David Lisnard, who agrees, is pulled that way.
• "VAT on electricity, gas and motor fuel should be cut." Mélenchon and Roussel are in favour, Lisnard is neutral and Philippe against, so agreeing counts as left-wing, which pulls Marine Le Pen, Éric Zemmour and Nicolas Dupont-Aignan to the left.

Candidate by candidate

Jean-Luc Mélenchon: furthest left on the economy. On all 15 economic statements he is on the left side, and at the end of the scale on 11: he strongly agrees with the Zucman tax, bringing back the wealth tax, going back to a legal retirement age of 62 or lower, indexing all pensions, a minimum wage of at least €1,600 net and a sharp rise in hospital funding, and with rent controls in all large cities; he strongly disagrees with cutting spending first, reducing the number of civil servants, retirement at 65 and shortening unemployment benefits. On the social axis (−72.5) he is progressive on 18 of the 20 statements, including birthright citizenship, regularising undocumented workers, State Medical Aid (AME), cannabis, assisted dying and phasing out nuclear power. Two statements pull him the other way: he opposes banning social media for under-15s and supports abolishing low-emission zones.

Fabien Roussel: left-wing on the economy, less progressive because of nuclear power and Corsica. On the economy (−80.0) he is on the left on all 15 statements, at the end of the scale on nine. On the social axis (−35.0) he is progressive on 15 statements and neutral on two (cannabis, crowd-control weapons). Three positions pull him towards the conservative pole: he strongly agrees with building new reactors, agrees with abolishing low-emission zones and strongly disagrees with Corsica having its own rules, which his party's text considers contrary to "the very idea of the nation and the Republic". Four of his social positions are estimated.

Marine Tondelier: the most progressive. She is on the progressive side on all 20 statements of the social axis, and at the end of the scale on 12, including: against a referendum on immigration, against abolishing birthright citizenship, for regularising undocumented workers, for keeping State Medical Aid, for legalising cannabis, against nuclear power, for wind power and for assisted dying. On the economy (−66.7) she is on the left on 13 statements. Two put her on the right side: her party's programme does not cut VAT on gas or motor fuel, and it would "under-index the highest pensions" instead of indexing all of them. Only one of her 35 positions on the axes is estimated.

Raphaël Glucksmann: left-wing, with nuclear power. On the economy (−53.3) he is on the left on 13 statements and neutral on two (VAT on energy, requiring doctors to practise where they are needed); three of these positions are estimated. He is less far left than Mélenchon or Roussel mainly because he is rarely at the end of the scale: only on three statements (against retirement at 65, for a €1,600 minimum wage, against shortening unemployment benefits). On the social axis (−45.0) he is progressive on 16 statements, neutral on three and conservative on one: nuclear power, whose role his party's platform wants to "strengthen". Five of his social positions are estimated.

Marine Le Pen: conservative, slightly left on the economy. On the social axis (+72.5) she is on the conservative side on 19 of the 20 statements, and at the end of the scale on ten: a referendum on immigration, abolishing birthright citizenship, "national priority", ending State Medical Aid, no regularisations, a presumption of self-defence for the police, school uniforms, nuclear power, stopping wind power and abolishing low-emission zones. On the economy (−20.0) she is on the left on eight statements: retirement back at 62, no to 65, lower VAT on energy, a (financial) wealth tax, indexing pensions, the 35-hour week, hospitals and not shortening unemployment benefits. She is on the right on five: against the Zucman tax, for cutting spending first, for an element of capitalisation, against a €1,600 minimum wage and against requiring doctors to practise where they are needed.

Nicolas Dupont-Aignan: very close to Marine Le Pen. He takes the same position as she does on 30 of the test's 46 statements. On the social axis (+70.0) he is conservative on 17 statements and neutral on three, all three estimated. On the economy (−16.7) he is on the left on seven (wealth tax, retirement back at 62, no to 65, indexing pensions, the 35-hour week, VAT on energy, hospitals), on the right on four (capitalisation through a fund for every newborn, no statutory rise in the minimum wage, no obligation for doctors, and rent controls, an estimated position) and neutral on four. What separates him most from Marine Le Pen lies outside the compass: leaving the European Union, national service and proportional representation.

Éric Zemmour: the most conservative. On the social axis (+80.0) he is conservative on 19 of the 20 statements, at the end of the scale on 13: on top of the positions he shares with Marine Le Pen, he strongly agrees with suspending family reunification, mandatory minimum sentences and banning the headscarf for minors in public spaces, and strongly disagrees with the assisted dying law. On the economy (+43.3) he is the least right-wing of the five candidates on the right of this axis: on the right on 11 statements, but on the left on two (lower VAT on energy, more hospital funding) and neutral on two, both estimated. He differs from Marine Le Pen mainly on the retirement age: he backs "64 or even 65".

Bruno Retailleau: right-wing and conservative. On the economy (+60.0) he is on the right on 13 statements. One pulls him left: requiring doctors to practise where they are needed, where his position (agree) comes from his party group's vote for the 2025 Garot law, as he did not state a view himself; he is neutral on indexing pensions. On the social axis (+57.5) he is conservative on 16 statements, at the end of the scale on nine (a referendum on immigration, abolishing birthright citizenship, no regularisations, ending State Medical Aid, mandatory minimum sentences, nuclear power, stopping wind power, abolishing low-emission zones, not banning glyphosate). He is on the progressive side on two: against "national priority" and for banning social media for under-15s.

David Lisnard: very close to Bruno Retailleau. The two take the same position on 27 of the 46 statements and are more than two points apart on only one: doctors' freedom to practise where they choose, which Lisnard defends. On the economy (+70.0) he is on the right on 14 statements and neutral on VAT on energy; he is at the end of the scale on seven, including cutting spending first, rejecting a wealth tax and capitalisation. On the social axis (+45.0) he is conservative on 15 statements, but seven of his 20 social positions are estimated, more than any other candidate on either axis: his place on that axis is the least certain on the map.

Édouard Philippe: furthest right on the economy, closer to the centre on the social axis. On the economy (+76.7) he is on the right on 14 statements and at the end of the scale on nine: against the Zucman tax and the wealth tax, for cutting spending first and reducing the number of civil servants, against going back to 62, for retirement at 65 and capitalisation, against keeping the 35-hour week and for shortening unemployment benefits. On the social axis (+17.5) he is conservative on ten statements (suspending family reunification, nuclear power, no regularisations, a presumption of self-defence, minimum sentences), progressive on five (against abolishing birthright citizenship, for wind power, for Corsica having its own rules, for banning social media for under-15s) and neutral on five; five of these positions are estimated.

Gabriel Attal: right-wing on the economy, in the middle of the social axis. On the economy (+63.3) he is on the right on 14 statements; only one pulls him left, because he opposes retirement at 65: he wants to abolish the legal retirement age altogether. On the social axis, his −2.5 does not mean he has no views. He is progressive on eight statements (for the assisted dying law and the social media ban for under-15s, against abolishing birthright citizenship and suspending family reunification, for wind power) and conservative on eight (nuclear power, no regularisations, a presumption of self-defence, banning the headscarf for minors, not legalising cannabis): the two cancel out. With Édouard Philippe, with whom he shares 29 positions, he differs mainly on the retirement age, family reunification and assisted dying.

What the compass does not show

The 11 statements on Europe, foreign affairs and defence, and institutions do not count on the compass, even though the candidates often clash on them. A few examples:

• "France should leave the European Union." Only Nicolas Dupont-Aignan agrees; the other ten disagree.
• "France should leave NATO's integrated military command." Nicolas Dupont-Aignan, Marine Le Pen, Jean-Luc Mélenchon, Fabien Roussel and Éric Zemmour strongly agree; the other six disagree (Raphaël Glucksmann's and David Lisnard's positions are estimated).
• "France should continue to give military aid to Ukraine." Gabriel Attal, Raphaël Glucksmann, Édouard Philippe and Marine Tondelier strongly agree, and David Lisnard and Bruno Retailleau agree; Marine Le Pen and Fabien Roussel are neutral; Jean-Luc Mélenchon and Éric Zemmour disagree, and Nicolas Dupont-Aignan strongly disagrees.
• "French law should take precedence over European law." Nicolas Dupont-Aignan, Marine Le Pen and Éric Zemmour strongly agree, and David Lisnard, Jean-Luc Mélenchon and Fabien Roussel agree; Bruno Retailleau is neutral; Gabriel Attal, Raphaël Glucksmann, Édouard Philippe and Marine Tondelier disagree.

If these statements counted, the map would look different. On these 11 statements alone, the match between Marine Le Pen and Jean-Luc Mélenchon is 73%, against 41% on the 35 compass statements; between Gabriel Attal and Raphaël Glucksmann it is 84%. Conversely, Jean-Luc Mélenchon and Raphaël Glucksmann, close on the compass (78%), are only at 52% on Europe, defence and institutions (our calculation). That is why the compass is a simplification. Your test result takes every statement into account, and every position of each candidate is on their page. You can compare two candidates side by side, for example on the Jean-Luc Mélenchon vs Raphaël Glucksmann page or the Marine Le Pen vs Jean-Luc Mélenchon page, or in the table of all the candidates.

How to read it

The compass shows where the candidates land according to our statements. It is neither how the candidates describe themselves nor where political scientists place them, and with other questions the map would be somewhat different. Each place on the map rests on positions you can check against their sources on each candidate's page. Who the candidates are and what they propose is summarised in "The 2027 French presidential candidates explained".

If you want to know where you stand, take the test: the result shows your place on the same map, with the same calculation.