In Lyon, Bruno Retailleau hunts on Laurent Wauquiez's land

In the final stretch of the internal campaign for the Republicans' presidential election, Bruno Retailleau came to challenge Laurent Wauquiez on his home turf. At the Confluence, a few meters from the regional council, which his internal rival had long presided over, the Minister of the Interior gathered around a thousand activists and supporters. This turnout testifies to Bruno Retailleau's current popularity. "We had no trouble filling the room. I don't know if that's the case for all politicians at the moment," joked a supporter of the Minister of the Interior. "We're not on conquered ground. Here in Lyon, the pressure has been intense. But we've made a choice: one of courage, clarity, and a vision for the future. Bruno Retailleau doesn't seek to please everyone. He doesn't speak to flatter but to convince," said Gilles Gascon, LR mayor of Saint-Priest and president of the right-wing group on the metropolitan council.

The Interior Minister's personal equation boosts the enthusiasm of the activists in the room. Robert, after a hiatus of several years, has re-signed a card with Les Républicains to vote for Bruno Retailleau on May 17. “I don't like people who hide. The context is difficult, but he's trying to influence events. He hasn't hidden for the past three years before coming back and saying, 'You'll see what you'll see.' For me, the enthusiasm around Bruno Retailleau is based on his authenticity. When he speaks, I understand what he's saying,” emphasizes Robert, an activist from Lyon. A little further on, Pierre, a member without interruption for several years, considers the Interior Minister to be “more unifying and less divisive” than the former president of the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region. “He has deep convictions while remaining open,” continues this Lyon activist. “He proposes a comprehensible line, a clear right that should bring the country back on the right track. He is at the head of a difficult ministry, but he provides evidence. He is a hard worker. He is not involved in political circles.”

At Dock 40, the Minister of the Interior nevertheless demonstrates that he is a good political communicator. He enters the room, pushing through the crowd of activists, escorted by his supporters, who are spoils of war in a region where Laurent Wauquiez has won the support battle hands down. On the stage, he sets the tone from the outset: “I was told that in Lyon, there were only ecologists or Insoumis. I didn't think I would make such a room.” The speaker Retailleau appears relaxed and at ease. For a short hour, he delivers his speech without notes or hesitation. From the outset, he warns that he will not give in to the temptation of soundbites against Laurent Wauquiez: “It's not when my family regains its colors that we should divide it. I reserve my blows for the Insoumis.” A target he would return to often and which he defined as his only adversary, assuring that Les Républicains must "fight the intellectual terrorism of the left." These criticisms hit home with the audience, who greeted these sallies with loud applause.

Three days before the internal vote, he unfolds his roadmap in the event of victory and addresses a base that has expanded in recent weeks. “I would like to address the activists of the dark years of defeats and sometimes betrayals. You held on, and I thank you for that. I also want to address those who came back. You are the pride of my campaign. I am committed to bringing you back. Today, we are the leading party in France in terms of members. Tomorrow, we will have to be the leading party in terms of voters. They left us because we disappointed them. We were a shameful right that apologized under the cultural hegemony of the left. I want those who voted for RN, Zemmour, or Macron to be able to come back to us. I want to build a great right-wing party,” he assures. As for the method, he cites his actions at the Ministry of the Interior as an example. “I chose to speak the truth, to tell the reality as the French perceive it. My sincerity is my strength. The crisis of democracy is that of public speech. There is a gap between what comes from the gut and what comes out of the lips. When you impose your semantics, you win at the ballot box. Speaking the truth is effective,” he savors before presenting his record with the law on drug trafficking and the tightening of naturalization rules.

His tenure at Place Beauvau is a strong argument for him among activists, but it's also used as a scarecrow by the Wauquiez camp, which accuses him of lacking independence from Emmanuel Macron and François Bayrou. Bruno Retailleau responds indirectly, repeatedly insisting that the Republicans' decision to enter the government was a "collective and collegial" choice. He also unfolds a unifying alternate history for his activists if LR had declined: "You would have had Rima Hassan as Minister of Foreign Affairs."

He promises to modernize the right's software on all major issues: education, work, immigration, ecology. "We're going to have to make some breakthroughs. If we continue with current policies, we'll hit a wall," he warns. Candidate Retailleau promises to resolve these issues by involving activists through referendums. A tool he also intends to use to choose a candidate for the 2027 presidential elections. For both Laurent Wauquiez and Bruno Retailleau, the two deadlines merge in the final stretch of this internal campaign.