Former French prime minister Édouard Philippe, considered one of the country’s most popular politicians, has announced that he plans to run in the 2027 presidential elections.

Mr Philippe, who served as current President Emmanuel Macron’s first prime minister from 2017-2020, made the widely expected announcement on Wednesday, local media reported.

In a survey by the polling institute Ipsos in June, 36 per cent of respondents said they would be very or quite satisfied if Mr Philippe, currently serving as mayor of the port city Le Havre in the Normandy region, were to become president.

This gave Philippe the highest approval rating among the politicians surveyed, ahead of Jordan Bardella and Marine Le Pen from the far-right National Rally who were next on the list.

The 53-year-old founded his centre-right Horizons party nearly three years ago.

It is currently part of Macron’s centrist Ensemble (Together) coalition. Mr Philippe has long been rumoured to have presidential ambitions.

It is unclear what chance Mr Philippe will have in the election.

The centrist coalition and the conservative Republicans have not yet fixed their plans for the vote.

As for the RN, it is not yet certain whether Le Pen will run again or send young party leader Bardella into the race.

Historically, approval ratings in France can change quite quickly, and it is still over two and a half years until the elections are scheduled.

In the last two presidential elections in 2017 and 2022, Le Pen made it to the run-off each time.

Macron’s victory was bolstered by a significant number of votes from other camps determined to prevent a Le Pen win at all costs.

(dpa/NAN)