Unlucky candidate in the right-wing primary in 2022, Xavier Bertrand “fully intends” to run for the presidential election in 2027 with the objective of blocking the far right.
In a long interview with the daily newspaper Ouest-France on Saturday February 3, Xavier Bertrand announced that he “fully intends” to be a candidate in the next presidential elections. At 58, the former Minister of Health under Jacques Chirac, then of Labor under Nicolas Sarkozy, says he has not “changed his ambition” and “learned from his mistakes”.
With this announcement, Xavier Bertrand wants to block the far right. “Many today already think that 2017 will be Marine Le Pen’s turn. Not me! I am convinced that there is not a majority of fascists in our country,” he declared.
Very critical of government policy, Xavier Bertrand, who launched his political movement Nous France in 2022, wants to be spokesperson for the “angry French”. He wishes to defend the decentralization of power, pointing the finger at the current power which he considers “among itself” and “too Parisian”, which explains, according to him, “its inability to anticipate crises [and] to feel what the French experience. “The State, at the national level, must ensure the sovereign: security, justice, control of immigration, defense, fight against Islamism. But for everything that concerns daily life, let’s stop bringing decision-making back to Paris so that it comes down with a delay on the ground”, affirmed the president of Hauts-de-France, giving the example of the management of the floods in Pas-de-Calais. The announcement of the former unsuccessful candidate for the right-wing primary in 2022 was judged premature by Jean-Pierre Raffarin, historic executive of the UMP and LR figure, on LCI Saturday evening.
