French Communist Party leader Roussel launches 2027 presidential bid with call for left-wing unity

Fabien Roussel, national secretary of the French Communist Party, officially declared his candidacy for the 2027 French presidential election on Sunday, confirming his bid in an interview with TF1. The announcement follows a party vote in which 72.06% of Communist Party militants supported his run, with turnout at 24,000, according to the party .
Roussel, 57, framed his campaign as a “project of rupture,” stating he aims to address the struggles of French workers and restore purchasing power. “I know France from the inside and I know the suffering and hopes for change of our citizens,” he said during the TF1 interview . He previously ran in 2022, securing 2.28% of the vote, a result that drew criticism from La France Insoumise, whose members accused him of preventing their leader, Jean-Luc Mélenchon, from advancing to the runoff .
Roussel’s entry adds to a crowded left-wing field, which already includes Mélenchon, Marine Tondelier of the Greens, and socialist primary candidates Raphaël Glucksmann and Olivier Faure . In his TF1 interview, Roussel called for unity among left-wing candidates, arguing that the left’s challenge is not the number of candidates but the lack of a majority in the country . The first round of the presidential election is scheduled for April 18, 2027, with a runoff on May 2 .
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