French Socialists publish 140-page election programme but remain without candidate as Philippe Brun enters primary race

A programme without a bearer

After a year of hearings, field tours, and contributions, the French Socialist Party (PS) released a 140-page document containing 600 policy proposals on the morning of 30 June. The text, approved by 83% of party members, covers a sweeping range of topics and marks the party's most substantial programmatic effort since Martine Aubry's tenure fifteen years ago. Yet it arrives at a moment of deep strategic paralysis: the PS, which has not picked its presidential candidate, is more divided than ever over how and when to choose one. First secretary Olivier Faure called the programme “a decisive step in the perspective of the campaign we are going to conduct – a roadmap that brings us together and shows the path we want for the country.”

Philippe Brun launches outsider bid

That same morning, Philippe Brun, the 34-year-old deputy for Eure, announced on RMC that he will run in the internal primary if the party opts to hold one. “I will be a candidate in the internal primary … to carry a popular line,” he said, styling himself as the only contender talking about wages. His pitch centres on a sharp critique of taxation: “Workers are the cash cows of the system. The gap between gross and net pay is gigantic and we have a big purchasing-power problem in France.” He proposes a steep cut in the CSG social contribution, financed by raising levies on capital, and insists his candidacy is “a candidacy of ideas” from a new generation that wants the PS to reconnect with blue-collar employees.

I propose we massively cut the CSG, that we bring gross pay closer to net. The effort has to be shared out better – capital is taxed very little, labour is taxed too much, I propose to detax it.

Internal showdown over primary rules

The PS’s highest body, the national council, convenes on Tuesday evening to resolve a long-standing dispute over the candidate-selection process. Olivier Faure wants an autumn primary open to the Ecologists and the rest of the non-Mélenchon left, while his internal opponents – led by parliamentary group chief Boris Vallaud – favour a consensus candidate, arguing the party should line up behind whoever polls best. Faure has proposed a compromise: first, a closed primary within the social-democratic space (PS and Place publique), whose winner would then decide whether to enter a later, broader primary. Some party figures expect the council to converge on a single ballot question for a militant vote on 9 July. “On Tuesday we will converge on a single proposal: a primary of social-democracy sympathisers,” predicted MEP François Kalfon.

A crowded field of potentials

Brun joins an already long list of official or presumed contenders. Raphaël Glucksmann, the Place publique leader who topped the left-wing vote in the European elections on a joint list with the PS, is credited with around 13% in early polling but refuses to enter a primary, counting on his poll numbers to make him the tactical choice. Former president François Hollande is also weighing a run, along with party figures Jérôme Guedj, Karim Bouamrane, and Boris Vallaud. With no candidate yet designated and the summer break looming, the PS risks losing precious campaign-building time while other political families are already closing ranks. On the far left, La France insoumise is firmly behind Jean-Luc Mélenchon, while the Rassemblement national will decide next week whether Marine Le Pen or Jordan Bardella leads its ticket, pending a verdict in the parliamentary assistants trial.

A decisive step in the perspective of the campaign we are going to conduct – a roadmap that brings us together and shows the path we want for the country.

A race against the calendar

The French political summer has begun, and with it the final stretch before parties must settle on a champion. The Le Temps analysis reminds that by July 2016 Emmanuel Macron was already on his way, suggesting that any new providential candidacy may already be too late. For the Parti socialiste, the Tuesday night council meeting is less a celebration of a completed programme than a bid to end an impasse that has left it without a standard-bearer for a campaign that will officially start only months from now.