Socialist leader Olivier Faure made a blunder. On Saturday, January 24, in the Loire Valley city of Tours, Faure was speaking alongside Greens leader Marine Tondelier and former La France Insoumise (LFI, radical left) figures Clémentine Autain, Alexis Corbière and François Ruffin, to reveal the date of the left-wing primary they are organizing. “If tomorrow there are people who say: ‘Well, in the end, we all agree that it should be François Hollande,’ fine, it will be François Hollande,” said Faure, who was trying to win the social democrats over. His associates’ faces fell. Tondelier shook her head to say no, Autain pretended to want to leave the room, Corbière let out a sour laugh and Ruffin grimaced.

The scene illustrates the ambivalent position that Hollande, the former Parti Socialiste (PS) president (2012-2017), is in. Loathed by much of the left, who have accused him of destroying their political credibility, Hollande, who returned to the Assemblée Nationale as an MP in 2024, has pulled off something of a feat. Once mocked and dismissed as far-fetched only months ago, the prospect of his candidacy in the 2027 presidential election has gradually gained substance. This has happened at the same time as the left’s path to the presidency has become increasingly uncertain, as it is caught between a potential primary and doubts surrounding Raphaël Glucksmann, whose appearance on a program on the news channel LCI in December 2025 was poorly received. His perceived televised failure still lingers in people’s minds, as has his marked discretion on budgetary matters.

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