2017 The Republicans (France) leadership election
The 2017 The Republicans (LR) leadership election was held on 10 December 2017, the first leadership vote since the party’s refoundation in 2015 (it had been the UMP before). It came after a difficult year for the party: François Fillon, its presidential candidate after the 2016 primary, was eliminated in the first round of the presidential election, and the party suffered major losses in the 2017 legislative elections. A split grew between moderate figures and hardliners, and several ministers who joined Emmanuel Macron’s government were expelled or left LR.
With the party’s presidency vacant since Fillon’s victory in 2016, LR scheduled a leadership election for 10 December 2017, with a possible second round on 17 December if no candidate won a majority in the first round. In the end, Laurent Wauquiez won in a single round, taking 74.64% of the vote. He was far ahead of his two opponents: Florence Portelli with 16.11% and Maël de Calan with 9.25%. About 100,000 party members voted.
Wauquiez was the only major candidate to run; others such as Xavier Bertrand and Valérie Pécresse chose not to contest. After the result, Bertrand announced he would leave LR, criticizing Wauquiez’s hard-right line.
Background notes: The UMP was refounded as The Republicans in 2015, an initiative led by Nicolas Sarkozy. Sarkozy led the party until 2016, when Fillon won the presidential primary. Fillon’s later defeat in the presidential race and the party’s weak legislative showing contributed to internal tensions and the departures of several right-wing figures to Macron’s government.
Following the election, Wauquiez announced his leadership team, naming Virginie Calmels, Guillaume Peltier, and Damien Abad as vice presidents, Annie Genevard as secretary general, and several deputy secretaries and spokespersons. He planned to meet Valérie Pécresse soon after.
This page was last edited on 3 February 2026, at 14:24 (CET).