François Ruffin wants a left-wing primary for the 2027 presidential election and claims he will win it

On Wednesday, May 21, in Libération , the Somme MP François Ruffin called for a left-wing primary, "from Poutou to Hollande," for the 2027 presidential election, stating that he will participate and win. "We need a primary, a 'geyser primary,' which is not just a tiebreaker election, but a moment of overflow," declared the MP , who broke with La France insoumise (LFI) during the last legislative elections and now sits within the ecologist group.

The elected official announced his intention to be a candidate. "And I will win it," he promised, recalling that he had beaten the National Rally "three times" "in working-class areas . " "I speak for the working world, the ordinary people who keep the country standing," he justified.

Having initiated the idea of ​​the New Popular Front in the legislative elections to unite the left, the MP recalls that in one month there were "nine million voters" . "We could give them back their voice, couldn't we? It's either the primary strategy or the depressing strategy," he asserts.

The MP believes that it is "the parties, a priori," who should organize this primary. "It would be better with them. Will they all say yes tomorrow morning? Probably not. But within each of them, there are unitarians against identitarians. In any case, this primary will take place."

As for the calendar, he recommends "applications in April 2026 and a vote in the fall," for "a two-round election, on the presidential model." He also details the criteria for applying: "One hundred thousand citizen sponsorships, 250 from mayors. Ten ideas, as a profession of faith." And suggests "a physical vote, with one polling station per canton," for a target of "two to three million voters."

For him, the "insoumis" and Jean-Luc Mélenchon are welcome in this primary, whose scope must be that of the NFP: "From Philippe Poutou to François Hollande. It's up to them to choose whether or not to enter." As for the possibility of Jean-Luc Mélenchon running without going through the primary, he believes that "it's all a question of balance of power. A candidate legitimized by millions of voters, that upsets the calculations."

Asked whether he would support whoever the winner was , including François Hollande or Raphaël Glucksmann, he said he could not imagine "taking part in such a vote without then respecting the rules."