How France’s leading anti-EU conservative could oust embattled Emmanuel Macron
EMMANUEL Macron could face a tough run for his money when France next goes to the polls as the country’s leading conservative eyeing up the top job gains in popularity.
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Laurent Wauquiez’s tough stance on immigration and Eurosceptic views has earned him the support of members of the French hard-right and nationalists.
The protégé of former president Nicolas Sarkozy, the 42-year-old is the favourite to win the party’s leadership contest in December.
And France’s leading conservative has his eyes firmly set on Emmanuel Macron’s job - criticising the President for falling into the “trap” of being too moderate.
In a swipe at the French President, he said: "We won't bring people together by being tepid. Emmanuel Macron isn't doing the job."
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As the head of Les Républicains (LR), Mr Wauquiez is in an ideal position to challenge Mr Macron at the upcoming local and European elections.
The conservative “bad boy”, who once refused to officiate a legal gay marriage when he was mayor, has already held a raft of high-profile positions.
He served as the Secretary of State for European Affairs under the Foreign and European Affairs Minister, Alain Juppé and was previously Secretary of State for Employment under the Minister of the Economy, Industry and Employment in François Fillon’s government.
And now he aims to weaponise his staid party and knock Mr Macron off balance six months into his term.
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We won't bring people together by being tepid. Emmanuel Macron isn't doing the job
Mr Wauquiez's critics within LR say his policies may be too close to those of the Front National and warn the party faithful could leave if he crosses that line once elected party chief.
But the graduate of France's elite schools says he is the voice of the "silent majority" and his critics have misunderstood him.
In an interview with Politico, he said: "My plan is simple. I want to reach out to those who have voted for the National Front but I would never strike any alliance with National Front officials."
Mr Wauquiez's challenge will also be to convince LR voters who chose Mr Macron for President - and who pollsters say are now still backing him over his economic policies - to return to the fold for the next election.
He said: "Yes, the right has been knocked down. Yes, there are tensions as we are rebuilding ourselves, and that's normal after such a stinging defeat."
Calling the French President's labour reforms a "sham". Mr Wauquiez added: "There is another path than Emmanuel Macron's, that of a determined and unfazed right."
Mr Wauquiez has brushed off claims he is a staunch “Eurosceptic” and instead described himself as a “committed European”.
And he has also called for the bloc to reconnect with its “core values”.
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The hard-right Republican also said that the EU should have a “core” of around 12 member states that would pursue closer cooperation on matters such as tax harmonisation, employment rights and social laws and policies.
Other members of the euro zone would form a second tier, and countries which are only interested in free trade would form a third tier. Post-Brexit Britain, Mr Wauquiez said, could be included in the third tier.
Mr Wauquiez also called for France to regain its territorial sovereignty, and for a “new Schengen agreement” which would take into account the need for tougher border controls in a bid to stem illegal immigration to Europe.
