France

France holds the first round of its presidential election on April 18, 2027. Six candidates are polling highest. Here is where each one stands on liberty, from their own words and actions.

Who should be the next president of France, and why?Say what you think. Other readers can answer you.Discuss

What the betting markets sayprices of Nov 9

Who wins the presidency

Marine Le Pen45%
David Lisnard15%
Jean-Luc Mélenchon13%
Édouard Philippe7%
Christine Lagarde7%

The chance of each, from the prices on Polymarket, where $169.0M has been bet on it. People with money on the outcome, not a poll and not my view.

Marine Le Pen
Deputy for Pas-de-Calais and outgoing National Rally group leader; declared presidential candidate · National Rally
F
Liberty Score F
57 out of 100 across 7 measures, from what Le Pen has said and done.
Credited with 36% of first-round votes in the scenario testing all the main contenders, and 38% if Gabriel Attal is the only centrist candidate, in the Ifop-Fiducial barometer polled 17 to 19 October 2026 and published 21 October 2026.
Every line on Le Pen, with its source
Jean-Luc Mélenchon
Founder of France Unbowed; declared candidate for president, his fourth run · France Unbowed
F
Liberty Score F
6 out of 100 across 5 measures, from what Mélenchon has said and done.
Credited with 16.5% of first-round votes, and up to 20% when only one other left-wing candidate runs, in the Ifop-Fiducial barometer polled 17 to 19 October 2026 and published 21 October 2026.
Every line on Mélenchon, with its source
Raphaël Glucksmann
Member of the European Parliament; Socialist and Place publique candidate for president · Place publique
D-
Liberty Score D-
61 out of 100 across 5 measures, from what Glucksmann has said and done.
Credited with 13.5% of first-round votes in the general scenario and up to 16% in others, in the Ifop-Fiducial barometer polled 17 to 19 October 2026 and published 21 October 2026.
Every line on Glucksmann, with its source
Édouard Philippe
Mayor of Le Havre, former prime minister; declared candidate for president · Horizons
A-
Liberty Score A-
90 out of 100 across 6 measures, from what Philippe has said and done.
Credited with 12% of first-round votes if Gabriel Attal also runs and 15% as the only centrist candidate, in the Ifop-Fiducial barometer polled 17 to 19 October 2026 and published 21 October 2026.
Every line on Philippe, with its source
Gabriel Attal
Renaissance leader and deputy, former prime minister; declared candidate for president · Renaissance
C-
Liberty Score C-
71 out of 100 across 5 measures, from what Attal has said and done.
Credited with 5% of first-round votes if Édouard Philippe also runs and 13% as the only centrist candidate, in the Ifop-Fiducial barometer polled 17 to 19 October 2026 and published 21 October 2026.
Every line on Attal, with its source
Bruno Retailleau
Senator and Republicans leader; his party's designated candidate for president · The Republicans
B
Liberty Score B
84 out of 100 across 5 measures, from what Retailleau has said and done.
Credited with 5.5 to 7.5% of first-round votes depending on the scenario, in the Ifop-Fiducial barometer polled 17 to 19 October 2026 and published 21 October 2026.
Every line on Retailleau, with its source

Voting in France: who can vote, how to register and how to vote from abroad.

Every letter on this page is an outline. It is a grade from what a politician has said and done, with a source for every line, on the same scale as the rest of the site.

Read the lines before you compare two letters. Someone who has governed has a long record, and more of it cuts both ways. Someone who has not is graded on what they say they will do, and a promise is easier than a decision.

Not graded here: David Lisnard, mayor of Cannes and candidate of Nouvelle Énergie, credited with 5.5 to 7% in the Ifop-Fiducial barometer polled 17 to 19 October 2026; Éric Zemmour (Reconquête), who declared his candidacy on BFMTV on 17 September 2026; and, polling lower, Marine Tondelier (Ecologists), Fabien Roussel (Communist Party), Nicolas Dupont-Aignan and a Lutte Ouvrière candidate. Raphaël Glucksmann won the Socialist and Place publique primary on 11 October 2026 with 66.17% of the votes cast, ahead of Olivier Faure. The official list is fixed only once sponsorships close in 2027.

Side by side

One line for each principle. With liberty every time is an A, against every time is an F, and a record that goes both ways gets the letter of its balance, with acts counting more than words. A question mark means the record does not settle it. Tap a name to read the sources.

Confronts tyranny and terrorStands up to the regimes and armed movements that rule by fear and export it: the regime in Tehran and the militias it arms, Putin's war, the Chinese Communist Party, terror groups and the networks that fund them.

ALe Penwith FMélenchonagainst AGlucksmannwith ?Attalnot clear ARetailleauwith

Stands with free nations and free peoplesBacks democracies under attack and people rising against their rulers: Israel, Ukraine, Taiwan, the people of Iran, and the alliances that keep free countries safe. Rejects isolationism, left and right.

FLe Penmostly against FMélenchonagainst CGlucksmannmostly with APhilippewith AAttalwith ARetailleauwith

Free speech and a free mindAgainst censorship by government or at its request. Every opinion, about any party, any idea or any religion, may be said and argued with.

ALe Penwith ?Mélenchonnot clear ?Glucksmannnot clear FPhilippeagainst FAttalagainst FRetailleaumostly against

Free markets and free tradePeople keep what they earn and trade with whom they choose: lower taxes, less regulation, open trade, no price controls and no planned economy.

FLe Penboth ways FMélenchonagainst FGlucksmannagainst APhilippewith AAttalwith ARetailleauwith

One law, equal for every individualRights belong to each person, never to a race, a sex or a group. Women and gay people equal under the same law; no one favoured or held back by race or sex; no ideology forced on children or soldiers.

APhilippewith

Freedom of conscienceThe state takes no side on religion. Every church, synagogue, mosque and temple is free, so is having no faith, and no religion's law is imposed on anyone.

ALe Penwith AMélenchonwith APhilippewith AAttalwith

Strong enough to stay freeFunds, equips and staffs the armed forces a free country needs to deter its enemies.

ALe Penwith AGlucksmannwith ?Philippenot clear

Citizenship and the rule of lawA free country decides who joins it, enforces its own laws, vets newcomers, and keeps out those who come to destroy its freedoms.

ALe Penwith FMélenchonagainst FGlucksmannagainst APhilippewith FAttalboth ways ARetailleauwith

What France votes on next

Apr 182027
President, first round
Voters in Guadeloupe, Martinique, French Guiana, Saint-Pierre-et-Miquelon, Saint-Barthélemy, Saint-Martin and French Polynesia vote the day before, Saturday 17 April.
Which two candidates go through to the second round for President of the Republic, unless one wins outright.
All French citizens on the electoral roll vote for one candidate. To stand, a candidate must be sponsored by 500 elected officials. A candidate with more than half of the votes cast is elected at once; otherwise the two with the most votes meet two weeks later. President Macron cannot stand, because nobody may serve more than two terms in a row.
Source: Service-Public.fr, Élection 2027 : les dates de l'élection présidentielle Source: Conseil constitutionnel, Texte intégral de la Constitution du 4 octobre 1958 en vigueur
May 22027
President, second round
Held only if nobody wins more than half of the votes in the first round; the same overseas territories vote on Saturday 1 May.
The President of the Republic, elected for five years.
Only the two candidates who came first in the first round may stand, and the one with more votes wins. The president is elected for five years by direct vote.
Source: Service-Public.fr, Élection 2027 : les dates de l'élection présidentielle Source: Conseil constitutionnel, Texte intégral de la Constitution du 4 octobre 1958 en vigueur

Who is on this page: Every declared or party-designated candidate credited with 6% or more in at least one first-round scenario of the Ifop-Fiducial barometer for Le Figaro, LCI and Sud Radio, polled 25 to 29 September 2026 and again 17 to 19 October 2026, strongest first, at most six people; David Lisnard reached 7% in October only as the single candidate of the traditional right, below Bruno Retailleau's best of 7.5%, so he is the seventh and is not on the page. Le Journal du Dimanche, Présidentielle : Marine Le Pen toujours loin en tête selon un nouveau sondage. LCP Assemblée nationale, Présidentielle: que proposent les candidats à l'Élysée sur les retraites?. Read on October 29, 2026. See something that is wrong or missing? Say so in the discussion.

How I grade outside the United States Every country