Gérald Darmanin sounds alarm over far-right leader as he positions himself as centre-right candidate
The French far-right leader Marine Le Pen could win the next presidential election in 2027, the interior minister, Gérald Darmanin, has said, as he positions himself as a potential candidate for the centre-right.
“The fact of the matter is that in five years’ time, a victory for Madame Le Pen is quite probable,” Darmanin told La Voix du Nord, in an interview published on Friday.
Darmanin, 40, who is in charge of French policing, has faced several crises in recent months, including urban unrest after the police shooting of a teenager of Algerian origin at a traffic stop outside Paris in June, and violent gun crime in drug dealer turf wars in Marseille and Nîmes.
This Sunday, he is to hold a large political gathering over sausage, chips and beer in his northern base of Tourcoing, styled as a brainstorming exercise on ways to stop Le Pen and win back working-class and middle-class workers. Political observers in Paris see it as a step towards a possible presidential bid.
Le Pen, who was beaten by Emmanuel Macron in last year’s presidential election, has presided over a historic success for her far-right National Rally party in parliament, where it is the biggest single opposition party.
