The Les Républicains Party (LR) practically tripled its number of members in two months, thanks to the duel between Bruno Retailleau and Laurent Wauquiez, candidates to take the lead in the right -wing political party. Since mid-February and the start of the campaign for the presidency, the number of people up to date of subscription-and thus benefiting from the right to vote for this ballot-has increased from 43,859 to 121,617, according to a statement published on Wednesday April 30.
The authority which takes care of the organization of the ballot assured that it had carried out the verifications of these memberships “In consultation” With the teams of the two candidates. The party had set the deadline for April 17 to join and thus be able to vote on May 17 and 18.
Weakened by the score (4.8 %) of her candidate, Valérie Pécresse, to the presidential election of 2022 and by the alliance between her former president Eric Ciotti and the national rally (RN, extreme right) during the legislative elections of the summer of 2024, LR thus stops the hemorrhage of its activists.
Membership hunt
The hunt for new members has also been a priority in each camp competing for the president of the party. Laurent Wauquiez, president of the Right Republican group in the National Assembly, undertook a Tour de France to meet them. “At home, in Haute-Loire, we went from 250 to almost 2,000 members”explained to World the deputy in mid-April.
Bruno Retailleau, whose functions of Minister of the Interior have left him less time to beat the campaign, took advantage of the visibility of which he benefits Place Beauvau to try to convince the LR voters who left for Macronism or the extreme right to return to the fold. “According to the figures you can have, 25 % of the electoral body is in Ile-de-Francefell to the World In mid-April a member of the Minister’s campaign team. This is a good sign for us, with federations that support us, like the Yvelines, the Hauts-de-Seine and Paris. »»
This multiplication of activists, which makes the ballot uncertain, is A classic issue on the right before each internal election, often the scene of controversies, of the war of chefs in 2012 between François Fillon and Jean-François Copé in the appearance of a dog registered in the primary of 2021. For the first time, the candidates teams have This year could consult the members file to point out any anomalies.