After almost 10 years of Macron governments, Attal is seeking to distance himself from the French president to frame his candidacy as one of change and reform.
Gabriel Attal on Saturday kicked off his presidential election campaign with a major rally in Paris, vowing to move beyond the Macron era and reform a system he said is no longer delivering for the French people.
“For decades, we have been trapped in a system that patches up the failures of the past instead of preparing for the future. By constantly chasing the past, this system is exhausting itself, and exhausting the country,” Attal told hundreds of cheering supporters at Paris Expo.
He said past French governments have been taken hostage by an “obsession” to pay for yesterday’s spending while forgetting about investing in the future. “We must embrace the future … because the system is currently sacrificing it,” Attal said. “The risk, if we remain trapped in this model, is a generational fracture.”
His campaign mirrors the very successful campaign of centrist liberal Dutch Prime Minister Rob Jetten in October 2025, which focused on optimism about the future and prioritizing the young generations, while exalting a sense of national pride.
“My first promise is that we will once again become Europe’s leading power within six years. That is our rank, our place, our destiny,” he said, also vowing to make France the leading European country in artificial intelligence.
Attal is following incumbent French President Emmanuel Macron as the presidential candidate of the centrist liberal Renaissance party, which he heads. After almost 10 years of Macron governments and dwindling popularity, Attal is seeking to distance himself from Macron to frame his candidacy as one of change and reform.
The 27-year-old politician served as prime minister under Macron from January-September 2024. He was the youngest prime miniter in French history and the first openly gay.
The latest polls put Attal in fourth place at 13 percent of popular vote, preceded by far-right French Rally candidate Jordan Bardella, center-right Édouard Philippe, and radical left France Unbowed head Jean-Luc Mélenchon.
Attal on Saturday said his priorities would be to strengthen education and increase purchasing power by raising wages and boosting business as well as investing in research and innovation. His third priority are be tighter border controls, a clear attempt to win back voters who have drifted to the right and far right, where immigration and border security have become dominant political issues.
“A country that no longer controls its borders no longer controls its destiny,” Attal said, adding that his objective is to “welcome fewer people in order to welcome them better.”
The fourth priority, he said, is to boost development of artificial intelligence and quantum technologies.
The young politician announced his bid on May 22 in the southern French countryside, which reflects his desire to distance himself from the Parisian elite and the French capital where he grew up.
Attal already had started publicly distancing himself after Macron’s surprise decision to dissolve parliament in 2024. Attal, who was prime minister at the time, was not consulted and was eventually forced to leave as head of government.
And during France’s political crisis in the fall of 2025, Attal said publicly that he “no longer understands” Macron’s decisions and accused his former mentor of “wanting to hold onto power” despite having lost the snap elections.
The first round of the election is slated for April 2027.