Renaissance party endorses Attal for 2027 presidential bid, Borne resigns as council chair
Former prime minister Gabriel Attal won a formal endorsement from the Renaissance party's National Council on Tuesday evening, with 91% of votes backing his 2027 presidential candidacy. The motion calls on Attal, the party's secretary-general, to declare his bid by 1 October, pending a membership vote. The endorsement came after Elisabeth Borne resigned as council chair last week, citing disagreement with Attal's political direction.
The Renaissance party's National Council on Tuesday evening formally endorsed former prime minister Gabriel Attal for the 2027 presidential election, adopting a motion that urges the party's secretary-general to declare his candidacy by 1 October. The vote strengthens Attal's control over the party founded by President Emmanuel Macron, who is constitutionally barred from seeking a third consecutive term.
The motion passed with 221 votes in favor, or 91 percent, against 22 votes in favor of holding an internal primary, with 10 abstentions. The 303-member council was chaired "exceptionally" by MEP Fabienne Keller following the resignation of Elisabeth Borne as council chair last week. Attal's bid would become final only after a vote by Renaissance members expected in the coming weeks.
Borne stepped down as chair of the National Council on May 6, 2026, saying she did not "fully identify" with Attal's political direction and that some of his positions had "not necessarily been debated" within the party. Borne had already suffered a political setback at the end of 2024 when she failed to prevent Attal – her successor as prime minister – from taking control of Renaissance after Macron's dissolution of the National Assembly.
Attal, 36, has been intensifying his public profile since publishing a book in late April 2026, embarking on a series of nationwide visits, book signings and political meetings. He is due to hold a major rally in Paris on 30 May 2026, widely seen as the unofficial launch of his presidential ambitions.
Attal is not the only former prime minister maneuvering within the pro-Macron bloc. Édouard Philippe, leader of the centre-right Horizons party, declared his intention to run for the Élysée in late 2024. Philippe gathered senior members of his party in Reims on Sunday and is expected to stage a large public meeting in Paris on 5 July 2026. Despite the growing rivalry, both Attal and Philippe have publicly floated the possibility of eventually rallying behind a single candidate to avoid divisions within the centrist camp.