Alexandre Chauveau, edited by Manon Fossat 2:44 p.m., October 12, 2021

The campaign can now begin at Les Républicains.

With the announcement of Xavier Bertrand's participation in the party congress on December 4, all the right-wing presidential candidates are now known.

Xavier Bertrand, Valérie Pécresse and Michel Barnier will therefore compete for the place for next April.

DECRYPTION

Xavier Bertrand put an end to the suspense by assuring Monday evening on the set of TF1 that he would participate in the LR congress which will appoint the right-wing candidate for the presidential election.

This announcement puts an end to weeks of uncertainty and the party now has all its candidates.

The campaign can therefore begin, as Valérie Pécresse indicated at the microphone of Europe 1 during her trip to Yonne on Tuesday.

A campaign geared towards activists, because they are the ones who will decide on December 4 who will represent them in 2022. 

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The decision of the president of Hauts-de-France to finally participate in the congress assures the Republicans of having only one candidate.

At a time when the left is more divided than ever and or on the right, Éric Zemmour brought down Marine Le Pen in the polls, Xavier Bertrand will therefore have to try to win back activists he left in 2017. Activists who resent him, but who also know that at present, according to the polls, he is the candidate most able to win the right.

The weight of Wauquiez

The president of the Hauts-de-France region will be notably opposed to Michel Barnier, considered serious and above all more faithful, and to a Valérie Pécresse who has been leading a field campaign for several weeks with a program worked on immigration, nuclear or education. 

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And in this equation of three, the former president of the party, Laurent Wauquiez, could tip the scales in the side of Michel Barnier.

The two men have appreciated each other for a long time, quite the opposite of the relationship between Laurent Wauquiez and Xavier Bertrand.