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Embattled French Right looks to Boris Johnson for salvation

The French mainstream Right is reportedly sending a fact-finding mission Downing Street in the hope of emulating Boris Johnson's electoral success - PA
The French mainstream Right is reportedly sending a fact-finding mission Downing Street in the hope of emulating Boris Johnson's electoral success - PA

France's ailing mainstream Right, the Republicans party, is reportedly looking to Boris Johnson for inspiration and planning a trip to London as it attempts to recover from near annihilation against President Emmanuel Macron.

Party leaders believe the Prime Minister’s "third way between globalists and populists" could bring salvation to the beleaguered party.

French conservatives used to be a pillar of the country’s two-party system along with the Socialists before Mr Macron dynamited the political landscape on a “neither Left nor Right” ticket, reaping victory in presidential elections and a landslide in the subsequent legislative vote.

The Republicans’ nosedive continued last year with a measly 8.4 per cent in European elections - down from 20.81 per cent in 2014 - after which their unpopular leader, Laurent Wauquiez threw in the towel.

As France limbers up for municipal elections in March and presidential ones in 2022, the Republicans, or LR, have been reportedly transfixed by Mr Johnson’s soaring political fortunes and are planning a fact-finding mission to London this spring to find out more from Conservative strategists.

Speaking to Le Parisien, Republicans secretary general Aurélien Pradié said: “Boris Johnson's victory is a lesson to us all because of his electoral turnaround and his larger-than-life personality. He comes across as an alternative who has re-motivated the people.”

Mr Pradé was also impressed by his refusal to forge a pact with UKIP at a time when some French conservatives are pushing to join forces with Marine Le Pen.

“He beat his own path without creating alliances with (the far-Right),” he said.

He added: "He isn't dull and self-censored. He's not the ideal son-in-law, the unremarkable guy. We don't want to become a bunch of nuts but we have to get away from the grey suit and black tie."

In particular, the French Right is impressed by his appeal among the working-class electorate.

French right-wing Les Republicains (LR) party's group president Christian Jacob (R), next to Les Republicains MP Guillaume Peltier - Credit: ALAIN JOCARD /AFP
France mainstream Right-wing party, Les Républicains, is in desperate need of a change of fortunes after a string of electoral defeats Credit: ALAIN JOCARD /AFP

"I've been looking for a third way for a long time between globalists and populists," said Guillaume Peltier, LR number two, pointing to his pledge to “raise the minimum wage, bring in an advantageous tax on learning, hire nurses, build hospitals in deprived areas, raise teachers' wages and hire new teachers".

Bruno Retailleau, the Republicans' senate leader, said: "He was able to respond to a need for protection from insecurity regarding the economy and English culture, from losing ground on social and economic issues as well as identity - the fear of becoming a foreigner in your own home."

However, not all of France’s largely Europhile Right is enamoured of Mr Johnson, pointing to his Leave campaign.

MP Eric Woerth, Nicolas Sarkozy's former finance minister, said: "For us, he must be a counter-model. He brazenly lied to his electorate during the Brexit campaign and then turned his back on Europe in favour of withdrawal."

Analysts said that the mainstream Right is not alone in gunning for a slice of “BoJo” success.

"The Right is in part facing competition from Marine Le Pen, who talks about identity, immigration but also has a social discourse. The working classes are also her target whereas Boris Johnson has no competition from the (British) far-Right on these issues," said Christian Lequesne of Sciences Po.

Ms Le Pen, who leads the National Rally party, told Le Parisien that no one French party could stake its claim on Boris Johnson’s political legacy.

"He's no longer a Right-wing leader, he's a national leader,” she said.