Raphaël Glucksmann, the 46-year-old French Member of the European Parliament and leader of the centre-left party Place Publique, officially announced his candidacy for France's 2027 presidential election on Sunday, declaring he would not stand aside while the country risks falling to the far right. "Yes, I am a candidate in the presidential election," he told TF1, France's leading private television channel. "We all have a knot in the stomach when we see what is happening to our nation."
Glucksmann, the son of renowned French philosopher André Glucksmann, has followed an unconventional path to politics. He began his career as a journalist and documentary filmmaker — producing work on France's role in the 1994 Rwandan genocide and on Ukraine's 2004 Orange Revolution — before serving as an adviser to former Georgian president Mikheil Saakashvili, a staunch opponent of Moscow who is currently imprisoned in his home country. Glucksmann co-founded Place Publique in 2018, positioning it as a pro-European, social-democratic alternative to both the radical left and the political mainstream. His joint list with the Socialist Party in the 2024 European Parliament elections won nearly 14 percent of the French vote, cementing his national profile and fuelling what some commentators have dubbed "Glucksmania," particularly among younger voters.
His candidacy sets up a significant contest within the French left ahead of the first round, scheduled for April 2027. He confirmed he will participate in a social-democratic primary organised jointly by Place Publique and the Socialist Party, to be held in October, with the aim of producing a single centre-left candidate. Several Socialist figures are expected to compete, including party leader Olivier Faure and former president François Ségolène Royal. Glucksmann enters as the frontrunner. He has firmly ruled out any alliance with Jean-Luc Mélenchon, leader of the hard-left La France Insoumise, but has extended an open hand to the Greens and the Communist Party around shared goals including climate action and reindustrialisation. Current polls credit him with 10 to 12 percent of voting intentions — a creditable score, but analysts suggest it may fall short of a place in the second-round run-off.
On policy, Glucksmann has pledged to raise workers' take-home pay by cutting social contributions on wages, financed by new taxes on the largest inheritances — a measure he says could generate €15 billion. He also promised a "rescue plan" for France's public education system, which he described as a personal priority. A committed Europeanist, he has been among the most vocal French politicians in support of Ukraine against Russia's invasion and advocates strengthening European defence capabilities.
Glucksmann's announcement carries immediate personal consequences. His partner Léa Salamé, 46, one of France's most prominent television journalists and the lead presenter of the flagship evening news on public broadcaster France 2, was expected to announce her withdrawal from the role within hours to avoid a conflict of interest. Salamé, who was born in Beirut, had previously signalled she would step aside if Glucksmann entered the race, while insisting on her professional independence. Glucksmann acknowledged the weight of the decision: "I know what this means for my loved ones and in particular my partner," he said, noting the couple had held "long discussions" before he moved forward.