Bardella, Faure, Lecornu, Hollande, Philippe: Political season begins in France

Before France knows who its next president will be, it must first adopt a budget for the year 2027.

That is the main task facing the French Prime Minister, Sébastien Lecornu, he told French daily Le Parisien in an interview.

With less than eight months to go before the first round of the presidential election and no majority in the National Assembly, Lecornu said he hopes to avoid a political stalemate by promising a budget"with measures that, for the most part, can be reversed by the new majority that emerges from the ballot box."

Lecornu is not planning to raise taxes, but is instead preparing an agricultural "rescue plan" and a reform of sick leave.

As for 2027, he repeats:"I don't know in what language I have to say it, I am not a candidate in the presidential election. I am not getting involved in the presidential campaign."

The Prime Minister was in Sens this Saturday for the summer school of the Laboratoire de la République, the movement set up by former education minister Jean-Michel Blanquer.

Olivier Faure calls for 'ecological socialism'

For his part, the First Secretary of the Socialist Party (PS), Olivier Faure, warned: "If the document that comes out of these debates is the one put forward by Messrs. Attal and Philippe with the support of the far right, then I am telling you we will vote to censure it!"

In his speech at the PS summer meetings, he also urged the left to "build a barrier"against the alliance between"the far right" and "big money". "The hour of ecological socialism has struck", he added, while continuing to keep everyone guessing about his intentions ahead of the left-wing primary.

Jordan Bardella believes the RN can 'win this election'

Visiting the Châlons-en-Champagne fair in the Marne, the president of the Rassemblement national (RN), Jordan Bardella, insisted that his party had "worked hard this summer on a programme to get the country back on its feet" and on the "presidential campaign".

For a time tipped as the far-right party's candidate, Jordan Bardella ultimately had to fall in behind Marine Le Pen.

A debate between Édouard Philippe and François Hollande

Another presidential contender, Édouard Philippe (Horizons), took part on Saturday in a debate with former Socialist president François Hollande, whose ambitions for 2027 appear to be growing.

At the Laboratoire de la République summer school, the two men agreed on what they see as the need to beware of the RN and La France insoumise (LFI)."In a country that is so divided, where discord has taken hold, where there is a form of radicalism, of populism, where people are set against one another, we must unite (…) against all those who divide,"François Hollande said.

Édouard Philippe, who hopes to bring together the right and the centre, also urged caution with regard to the two parties,"not because they are illegitimate in the public debate, but because they divide."

While they both sound the alarm over the state of the French economy, the former head of state and the ex-prime minister are not prescribing the same remedies: François Hollande is calling for an _"_increase in taxation", whereas Édouard Philippe advocates "keeping a lid on"social spending.