A leaked 48-page strategy document from the team of French Socialist MEP Raphaël Glucksmann, leader of the Place Publique party, has revealed which voters his entourage want him to chase, and which it has classified as “to avoid for now”, ahead of a likely 2027 presidential bid.
The internal memo, drawn up in March 2026 by the think-tank Destin commun and the polling institute Cluster 17, was first reported by Politico and seen by France Télévisions. It sets out how Glucksmann could reach 20 per cent in the 2027 presidential race and gather at least 7.5 million votes.
Presented to the small circle preparing Glucksmann’s run, the synthesis splits the electorate into three categories. Each is illustrated by a fictional voter “totally fictional but representative of our targets”, according to the document.
The first group, labelled “the loyalists”, is represented by “Nathalie de Nantes, 57, literature teacher”. The note describes her as already politically aligned with Glucksmann (referred to as “RG” in the document), a volunteer at a migrant charity who likes Saturday morning markets and listens to Cabrel, Stromae and Mylène Farmer.
A second category groups left-wing voters hesitating between Glucksmann and rivals such as Marine Tondelier or François Ruffin, embodied by “Romain de Romainville, 43, an engineer at EDF”. A third covers “conquest at the centre”, whose chief concerns would be political instability and purchasing power, personified by “Gérard de Guérande, 68, retired”.
The most contentious section identifies voters “harder to mobilise” who should be set aside “for now”. These include the 18-25 age bracket, those earning less than €1,500 a month, residents of the banlieues, France’s deprived suburbs, and entire regions, namely Hauts-de-France, Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur, Corsica and Grand Est.
The disclosure has caused embarrassment for Glucksmann, who finished third at the 2024 European elections. His entourage told France Télévisions the memo was “a cold document, a photograph”, although it conceded the summary was “caricatural” and “very clumsy”, and described it as a first draft that Glucksmann had wanted purged of its “voters to avoid” page before presentation to party officials.
“It is absolutely not his strategy,” the source said. “There is no electorate that belongs to La France Insoumise or Rassemblement National, and we are going to talk to everyone.”
La France Insoumise was quick to seize on the leak. Deputy Clémence Guetté wrote on social media that the memo confirmed Glucksmann “has never wanted to be a left-wing candidate” and was instead seeking to embody “Macronist renewal” by “abandoning workers, the poorest and the young”.
Glucksmann has yet to officially declare his candidacy. He is due to take a further step towards a bid with a rally on June 13 and a book to be published in early summer.
