Philippe's plan to take down Le Pen: Frame her as a lefty
Former French Prime Minister Edouard Philippe is shifting his campaign strategy after Marine Le Pen's surprise return to the 2027 presidential race, now attacking her as a fiscally irresponsible leftist.
After Marine Le Pen's unexpected legal reprieve allowed her to re-enter the 2027 French presidential election, one of her main opponents, Edouard Philippe, has adjusted his attack plans. Having launched his campaign in May with a promise of a "massively optimistic" conservative agenda, Philippe and his team are now going after Le Pen as a fiscally irresponsible lefty.
"Marine Le Pen has a platform that is largely left-wing," said Nathalie Loiseau, a European Parliament member campaigning for Philippe. This isn't a new attack — critics on the right have long accused her National Rally party of economic incoherence. But now that Le Pen, not her 30-year-old protégé Jordan Bardella, is the official candidate, Philippe's team believes their criticisms will land harder.
Bardella had become the party's presumptive candidate after Le Pen's embezzlement conviction and five-year ban from standing for public office. However, Le Pen's first appeal granted her a reprieve, allowing her to run. Bardella had tried to broaden the far-right's appeal by exploring more pro-business, fiscally conservative policies. Le Pen's vision of an interventionist welfare state will now dominate the party's platform.
Philippe and his allies believe Le Pen is a tougher opponent than Bardella, but they are confident in their ability to pick apart her policies. "Le Pen is more experienced and likely a tougher opponent, but her platform makes no sense in quite a few respects," said pro-Philippe parliamentarian Frédéric Valletoux.
A key example is retirement reform. Le Pen officially supports lowering the minimum retirement age to 62, reversing President Emmanuel Macron's 2023 reform that gradually raised it to 64. Bardella, however, had opened the door to changing the party's position due to concerns about France's public finances, with debt projected to rise from 115.5% of economic output to 203% by 2050, according to the OECD.
Philippe's party, Horizons, intends to hit Le Pen on "the inconsistency and absurdity of a highly statist platform that seeks to roll back pension reforms and make people believe they can work less," said Valletoux. Philippe has floated the possibility of raising the retirement age even higher than Macron's reform.
"A right-wing voter who values free enterprise and a form of fiscal and budgetary prudence will be less inclined to vote for Marine Le Pen [than for Bardella]. Edouard Philippe may win them over," said Gilles Boyer, Philippe's co-campaign director.
