France will hold its next presidential election on 18 April and 2 May 2027, with the decision set to be formally confirmed at a meeting of the Council of Ministers on Wednesday. The announcement, made by an executive source and reported by AFP, follows the constitutional requirement that the vote take place between 20 and 35 days before the end of the sitting president's term. Emmanuel Macron, who first won the presidency in 2017, is serving his second and constitutionally final five-year mandate.
France's presidential system uses a two-round format: all major candidates compete in the first round, and the two with the highest vote shares then face each other in a decisive run-off two weeks later. In the most recent election, held in April 2022, Macron defeated Marine Le Pen of the National Rally party with 58.55 percent of the vote in the second round.
The 2027 contest is widely seen as one of the most open in recent memory, with polls consistently suggesting the far-right National Rally could lead the first round. Le Pen, who has run for president three times — finishing third in 2012 before twice reaching the run-off against Macron — is expected to stand again as her Eurosceptic party's candidate. However, her participation is not guaranteed: a Paris appeals court is due to rule on 7 July on whether she should be barred from public office over an alleged scheme to use European Parliament funds to pay for party staff, a charge she denies.
The announcement matters beyond France's borders. As a founding member of the European Union and a permanent member of the UN Security Council, France's presidential elections carry significant weight for European foreign policy, defence cooperation, and the broader direction of the continent. A victory for the National Rally, which holds sceptical views on European integration and has historically maintained ties with Russia, would represent a substantial shift in France's international posture. Who will run against Le Pen from the centre, left, or traditional right remains an open question that is expected to define the coming months of French political life.