Essayist Natacha Polony announces bid for France's 2027 presidential election on France Inter
Former Marianne director Natacha Polony said on France Inter on Wednesday, 14 October, that she will stand, pledging to prioritise production on French soil in public procurement and to end business aid not tied to French production.
Announcement on France Inter
Natacha Polony announced her candidacy for the 2027 presidential election on France Inter on Wednesday, 14 October, saying she wanted to "bring together the orphans of politics" and to "propose a politics of production on French soil". The 51-year-old essayist, a former director of the weekly Marianne, launched a political movement in September. She framed the bid as a response to what she called a "total loss of rank" for France on economic questions, independence and sovereignty. She said she was standing to win, while acknowledging that there were already many candidates.
The situation obliges me, so yes, I am a candidate in the presidential election.
Her diagnosis and programme
Polony set out her diagnosis in remarks broadcast on France Inter and reported by several outlets. She pointed to a tragic high-school crisis, violence, a fractured society, a debt crisis and an international crisis, and said the options on offer were lacking.
What I see is a tragic high-school crisis, with violence, a fracturing of society that shows a total absence of perspective, a debt crisis threatening us, an international crisis.
Her economic programme rests on two measures. She wants French production given priority in public procurement, arguing that this recreates activity and brings money back into state coffers. She also proposes ending business aid that is not conditioned on production on French soil. Asked about the field, she conceded that there were already many candidates but said that had not unblocked the situation.
Political path
Polony led Marianne, which she headed for eight years according to 20minutes, and defended an editorial line that was sovereigntist, pro-secularism, anti-liberal on economics and critical of elites. She first became known as a polemicist on the France 2 programme On n'est pas couché, hosted by Laurent Ruquier, between 2011 and 2014. She later became a regular on television and radio panels and published numerous essays. Earlier she was briefly involved in politics alongside Jean-Pierre Chevènement, and she ran in the 2002 legislative elections in Paris. After those elections she chose journalism as her form of engagement, according to 20minutes.
- Tells Le Parisien she is entering politics
- Tells RTL that a political offer is missing that refuses powerlessness
- Launches her political movement
- Announces her candidacy for the 2027 presidential election on France Inter
Build-up and differing reports
In late August she signalled the move. She told Le Parisien on 28 August that she was entering the political arena, and on RTL on 31 August she said a political offer was missing that refuses powerlessness. Her movement, which 20minutes names Nous sommes la France, was launched in September. Le Monde reported that her ambition is to disrupt the political game. BFMTV's article opened by saying she announced on Tuesday morning, while its main text and other outlets give Wednesday, 14 October, as the day of the announcement.
