Overview

• Interior Minister and Les Républicains president Bruno Retailleau laid out the broad lines of his plan to position the right for municipal gains in March and a 2027 presidential bid, in an exclusive with Le Figaro Magazine.
• Prime Minister François Bayrou has set a confidence vote in the National Assembly for September 8, creating a real possibility the government could fall.
• Retailleau has publicly backed Bayrou, a stance that drew criticism from the Rassemblement National.
• A nationwide demonstration against the prime minister’s budget measures is scheduled for September 10, adding pressure to an already tense political rentrée.
• Retailleau’s summer profile was shaped by crisis responses, including field visits during fires in the Aude and public reactions to a spate of antisemitic acts.