One year before the presidential election, Élisabeth Borne announced on Wednesday that she was withdrawing from the leadership of the Renaissance presidential party. She said, on France Inter, "in disagreement with the current line" carried by general secretary Gabriel Attal.
Published on: 06/05/2026 - 10:56
“I have decided to resign from the National Council of Renaissance,” declared Élisabeth Borne, Wednesday May 6, on France Inter. The former Prime Minister declared that she “disagreed with the current line” of the presidential party, carried by Secretary General Gabriel Attal. She regrets that this is “not necessarily debated” internally.
She still affirmed that she would remain a “simple member” of Renaissance. “I am attached to the activists and I am attached to the values that we carried in 2017, but I do not wish to participate in the proceedings.”
“I have decided to resign from the National Council of Renaissance, to step back from the executive office and to devote myself to the structure that I created, ‘Let’s build together’”, which aims to “bring together beyond parties”, she declared. His book, “Let’s Wake Up!” (Robert Laffont), will be published Thursday.
This announcement comes as Gabriel Attal is busy preparing for the presidential election, making numerous trips to try to dislodge Édouard Philippe from his rank as favorite in the central bloc for the race for the Élysée.
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In August 2024, Élisabeth Borne announced her candidacy for head of the Renaissance party. Four months later, she gave up submitting her own list, subject to an agreement with Gabriel Attal, who assured her the presidency of the National Council, a sort of parliament of the party.
But the former Prime Minister, who welcomed Gabriel Attal on the steps of Matignon in January 2024, never seemed to adhere to the approach of her short-lived successor, who took over the party without the agreement of the Élysée and also leads the Macronist group in the National Assembly.
“Renaissance is not a party, it’s Gabriel Attal’s communications agency,” she declared to La Tribune Dimanche.
Skepticism already displayed
Asked about her own ambitions for the 2027 presidential election, Élisabeth Borne replied on Wednesday that this was "not at all the meaning of (her) approach" and that she wanted to concentrate on proposals.
She also engaged in a “critique of the method” of Emmanuel Macron. Speaking about her vision of the role of the president, she said she was opposed to a “solitary and somewhat vertical power”.
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As for her points of disagreement with the Renaissance line, she cited "respect for international law", the Constitutional Council and the Constitution. She had already displayed her skepticism, even her opposition to certain fundamental measures announced by Renaissance, such as the ban on the veil for minors under 15 years old.
The Calvados MP had skipped the closing speech at Gabriel Attal's Arras meeting in September 2025, like a certain number of party figures, disagreeing with her distancing herself from Emmanuel Macron.
She was also not present Monday evening at the executive office, which examined the proposals for the nomination of the party's candidate for the presidential election. These - appointment of the general secretary or internal primary - must be decided on May 12 during a National Council, a body that she chaired.
“She could have used the National Council to make people work and come and challenge Gabriel with substantive proposals, she never did so,” regrets a source close to the party's general secretary.
With AFP
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