The French presidential race is beginning to take shape, and after the “summer universities” that political parties organized at the end of August, the 2026 back-to-school season came with important announcements. One of them: the presidential candidacy of Raphaël Glucksmann, who thus enters the socialist primary with an advantage, being viewed with suspicion from both the right and left of the party.
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The MEP comes from a family marked by history: his grandfather was a Soviet spy who was eventually arrested by MI5, the British intelligence service. His father, André Glucksmann, was an emblematic figure in French philosophical circles of the 20th century. Even his lifelong partner, Léa Salamé, is a star journalist and TV presenter, forming what some call a “power couple.”
A week ago, Glucksmann, at the age of 46, made public his interest in becoming president of the Republic, for the elections that should take place on April 18, 2027. First, he will have to win the socialist primary.
Glucksmann, writer and activist turned MEP, founded his own party, Place Publique, in 2018. He rose to national prominence after leading a joint list with the socialists, and achieving third place in the 2024 European elections.
Unlike most politicians who launch their campaigns from a podium, Raphaël Glucksmann began his race for the French presidency by climbing an 80-meter-high wind turbine. “I am not afraid; I look forward to reaching the top,” declared the candidate, equipped with helmet and harness. Back on solid ground, he promised a “100-day environmental revolution” if elected in 2027, aiming to combat climate change and get France to abandon fossil fuels.
After one of the hottest summers ever recorded in France and the devastation caused by wildfires, this issue places him at the center of public debate. However, his aspiration to reach the Élysée faces formidable obstacles: the French left has not made it to the second round of the presidential elections since 2012.
With far-right Marine Le Pen practically assured of one of the two spots for the second round next May, Glucksmann will also be pressured by Jean-Luc Mélenchon’s radical left, who is gaining ground in the polls, and by Emmanuel Macron’s centrist heirs.
He forms a highly visible couple with his partner Léa Salamé, one of France’s best-known TV journalists. Regarding this, Salamé announced she will stop presenting her news program while his candidacy lasts. In August, Paris Match magazine published on its cover photos of both on a beach in Corsica, just below images of Macron on a jet ski.
Glucksmann conveys a slight air of “champagne socialist” that could harm him, according to Daniel Boy from Sciences Po, speaking to the Financial Times. Glucksmann was born in the suburbs of Paris, son of activist and intellectual parents. His late father, André Glucksmann, was a renowned philosopher who broke with his initial flirtations with communism to become an anti-Maoist leftist for most of his life, as did his wife, Françoise, also an activist and screenwriter.
One of his best-known stances is his distrust of Moscow, and Glucksmann’s open criticisms of Russia stem from key experiences lived in Kiev during the 2004 Orange Revolution and in Georgia, where he advised then-president Mikheil Saakashvili after the 2008 Russian invasion. His early warnings to the EU about Russian interference and his defense of the Uighur minority in China are examples of the firmness of his convictions, according to his supporters. “He is a tenacious and determined person. When he tackles a topic, even if it is not fashionable or no one cares, he ends up being right,” said Aurore Lalucq, MEP of Place Publique.
Glucksmann has a long road ahead if he intends to reach the Élysée, with the first stop being the socialist primary, which will take place in October and pits him, among other candidates, against the party president, Olivier Faure. However, his biggest challenge is to close the gap with Mélenchon by convincing left-wing voters that he represents their best option to reach the second round. Glucksmann is not yet a nationally known political figure and his message is not as aligned with voters’ traditional priorities, such as the cost of living.
A poll conducted this week placed him in fourth place, with 11% voting intention for the first round, behind Le Pen, Mélenchon, and Édouard Philippe, Macron’s former prime minister. However, in a hypothetical second round against Le Pen, he would achieve considerably better results than Mélenchon.
And unlike the 2024 legislative elections, where under the name New Popular Front the socialists, ecologists, and insubmissives united, Glucksmann has already shown his intention to draw a line excluding Mélenchon’s party. “The Ecologists were right before anyone else. Join us to found the Ecological Republic,” he declared on TF1. A message also directed at the Communist Party, with which he says he shares “common goals.” “François Hollande? I extend my hand to him, as to everyone else,” he said.
“If I win these primaries, there will never be another agreement with Jean-Luc Mélenchon” he stated in the same interview. According to him, “the only way for the left to return to power is to be absolutely clear.”
Meanwhile, on the other side of the political spectrum, Marine Le Pen far outpaces the rest of the candidates. Jean-Luc Mélenchon sees his momentum fade in favor of Édouard Philippe, but also Raphaël Glucksmann, who is gaining ground, according to an Elabe poll published Saturday.
In a study for BFMTV and La Tribune broadcast Sunday, the National Rally candidate remains far ahead, with between 34% and 35.5% of voting intentions in the first round of the 2027 presidential elections.
On the left, Jean-Luc Mélenchon remains in the lead: The leader of La France Insoumise has between 14% and 14.5% voting intention in the first round.
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