What France's presidential candidates agree on

For every candidate and every statement, the test holds a position on a scale from one to five. With 46 statements in the main test and eleven candidates, there are 506 of them. Looked at statement by statement rather than candidate by candidate, they draw a different map: where the presidential campaign has common ground and where it has none.

The measure is simple. For each statement we take the highest and the lowest position among the eleven candidates and subtract one from the other (our calculation). A gap of zero would mean every candidate holds exactly the same view. A gap of four means one candidate "strongly agrees" and another "strongly disagrees".

How the gaps are distributed

On 32 of the 46 statements, there is at least one candidate at each end of the scale. That is more than two thirds of the test. No statement has a gap of zero or one, and on every statement at least one candidate agrees and at least one disagrees. Counting only documented positions, the distribution does not change, except for the statement below.

The only statement with a gap of two is "Rubber-bullet launchers (LBD) and grenades should be banned at demonstrations." No candidate is at either end of the scale: Jean-Luc Mélenchon and Marine Tondelier agree, Raphaël Glucksmann and Fabien Roussel are neutral, and the other seven disagree. But those seven positions are all estimated: only four candidates have stated a view.

Where a large majority agrees

There is no full agreement anywhere, but on four statements at least eight of the eleven candidates are on the same side:

• "France should leave the European Union." Ten candidates disagree, six of them strongly. Only Nicolas Dupont-Aignan agrees, and he has made it the first plank of his campaign.
• "France should build new nuclear reactors." Nine candidates strongly agree; Jean-Luc Mélenchon and Marine Tondelier, whose programmes plan to phase out nuclear power, strongly disagree. It is the only statement on which all eleven candidates are at one end of the scale or the other.
• "France should increase its military spending." Nine candidates agree, eight of them strongly; Jean-Luc Mélenchon and Fabien Roussel disagree.
• "Social housing and jobs should go to French citizens first." Eight candidates disagree and two, Marine Le Pen and Éric Zemmour, strongly agree. But six of the eleven positions are estimated. Of the five with a source, Marine Le Pen and Éric Zemmour agree, and Bruno Retailleau, Fabien Roussel and Marine Tondelier disagree.

On the first three, every position is backed by a source; none is estimated. On fourteen more statements, seven candidates are on the same side. On four of them every position has a source: a minimum wage of at least €1,600 net (seven against), a legal retirement age of 65 (seven against), regularising undocumented workers who have a job (seven against) and a sharp rise in public hospital funding (seven in favour). On funding part of pensions through investment (capitalisation), seven candidates agree; of the four who disagree, only Marine Tondelier's position has a source.

Where the candidates split into two camps

At the other end, on nine statements at least five candidates stand on each side. Here are six of them; the other three are on bringing back the wealth tax, suspending family reunification and Corsica having its own rules:

• "The legal retirement age should go back to 62 or lower." Six in favour (Marine Le Pen, Jean-Luc Mélenchon, Fabien Roussel and Marine Tondelier strongly, Nicolas Dupont-Aignan and Raphaël Glucksmann), five strongly against (Gabriel Attal, David Lisnard, Édouard Philippe, Bruno Retailleau, Éric Zemmour). Nine candidates are at one end of the scale or the other, and every position has a source.
• "Birthright citizenship (droit du sol) should be abolished." Five in favour (Nicolas Dupont-Aignan, Marine Le Pen, Bruno Retailleau and Éric Zemmour strongly, David Lisnard), six against (Jean-Luc Mélenchon, Fabien Roussel and Marine Tondelier strongly, Gabriel Attal, Raphaël Glucksmann and Édouard Philippe).
• "Wind power should continue to be developed." Six in favour (Raphaël Glucksmann, Jean-Luc Mélenchon and Marine Tondelier strongly, Gabriel Attal, Édouard Philippe and Fabien Roussel), five against (Nicolas Dupont-Aignan, Marine Le Pen, Bruno Retailleau and Éric Zemmour strongly, David Lisnard).
• "The 2026 law allowing assisted dying should be kept." Five in favour (Gabriel Attal, Jean-Luc Mélenchon and Marine Tondelier strongly, Raphaël Glucksmann, Fabien Roussel), six against (Éric Zemmour strongly; Nicolas Dupont-Aignan, Marine Le Pen, Édouard Philippe, Bruno Retailleau, and David Lisnard, whose position is estimated).
• "France should leave NATO's integrated military command." Five strongly in favour (Nicolas Dupont-Aignan, Marine Le Pen, Jean-Luc Mélenchon, Fabien Roussel, Éric Zemmour), six against (two positions estimated: Raphaël Glucksmann's and David Lisnard's).
• "Unemployment benefits should be paid for a shorter time, to encourage people back into work." Five in favour (Édouard Philippe and Bruno Retailleau strongly, Gabriel Attal, David Lisnard, Éric Zemmour), five against (Raphaël Glucksmann, Jean-Luc Mélenchon, Fabien Roussel and Marine Tondelier strongly, Marine Le Pen), and Nicolas Dupont-Aignan neutral (estimated).

Lines that do not always follow the same camps

Some groups of candidates are often on the same side: Jean-Luc Mélenchon, Fabien Roussel, Marine Tondelier and Raphaël Glucksmann are all on the same side on 29 of the 46 statements, and Marine Le Pen, Nicolas Dupont-Aignan and Éric Zemmour on 28. But the lines shift from one issue to another:

• On two statements where every position has a source, those four candidates are on one side and the other seven on the other: a minimum wage of at least €1,600 and regularising undocumented workers who have a job.
• On public hospitals, Marine Le Pen, Nicolas Dupont-Aignan and Éric Zemmour side with them in favour of a sharp rise in funding; Gabriel Attal, David Lisnard, Édouard Philippe and Bruno Retailleau are against.
• On going back to 62, Marine Le Pen and Nicolas Dupont-Aignan join the same four candidates, while Éric Zemmour strongly disagrees.
• On NATO's integrated command, Marine Le Pen, Nicolas Dupont-Aignan and Éric Zemmour are on the same side as Jean-Luc Mélenchon and Fabien Roussel.
• On nuclear power, Fabien Roussel and Raphaël Glucksmann are with the other seven candidates, facing Jean-Luc Mélenchon and Marine Tondelier.
• On a citizens' initiative referendum, seven candidates are in favour, from Marine Le Pen and David Lisnard to Jean-Luc Mélenchon and Marine Tondelier; Gabriel Attal and Édouard Philippe (estimated) are against, and Bruno Retailleau and Éric Zemmour neutral.

By topic

The topics on which the candidates disagree most are immigration, with a gap of four on all six statements, the economy, taxes and debt (four out of four) and society, secularism and regions (three out of three). Immigration is also where estimated positions are most common (14 of 66), because several candidates have not stated a view on "national priority", a referendum on immigration or State Medical Aid. The large majorities, by contrast, are mostly on Europe, defence and energy.

Who is close to whom

The same data also shows which candidates are closest to each other and which are furthest apart. The table shows the four closest and the four most distant of the 55 pairs of candidates (by average gap across all 46 statements):

The closest are David Lisnard and Bruno Retailleau, both from Les Républicains: they are three or more points apart on only one statement, doctors' freedom to choose where to practise. Gabriel Attal and Édouard Philippe, both former Prime Ministers under Emmanuel Macron, share 29 positions, and Nicolas Dupont-Aignan and Marine Le Pen 30, the highest number. The closest pair among Jean-Luc Mélenchon, Fabien Roussel, Marine Tondelier and Raphaël Glucksmann is Jean-Luc Mélenchon and Fabien Roussel (23 identical positions, average gap 0.70). The furthest apart are Marine Tondelier and Éric Zemmour, and Jean-Luc Mélenchon and Bruno Retailleau: at least three points apart on 29 of the 46 statements.

What this means for the test

A statement on which every candidate agrees does not help to tell them apart: whoever answers it gets the same score with all of them. What separates the candidates are the 32 statements with a gap of four. That is why they are in the test, and why it is worth answering them even when it is hard to decide.

It also explains a common feeling at the end of the test: if your result gives several candidates similar percentages, you probably agree with them on the few issues they share and stay in the middle on the ones that divide them. When two candidates are almost tied, the test offers up to eight tie-break questions: the ones that best separate the candidates concerned.

A note on the data

All 46 statements have eleven positions, one per candidate. Not all of them are equally solid: 70 of the 506 positions are not based on a specific document and are marked as estimated; David Lisnard (12), Édouard Philippe (10) and Raphaël Glucksmann (9) have the most, and Marine Tondelier (1) and Bruno Retailleau (3) the fewest. They count in the gaps like the others, but in the majorities above we say when a position is estimated. Each candidate's page shows which of their positions are documented and which are estimated. The 17 tie-break statements, which the test asks only when the result is close, are not included here.

Who the candidates are and where they sit on the political compass is described in "The 2027 French presidential candidates explained". All positions side by side are in the candidate comparison, and you can compare them with your own views when you take the test.