Raphaël Glucksmann and Bernard Cazeneuve appeared together in Pontoise on November 16 to unite social democrats ahead of the 2027 presidential election. The gathering opposes the unitary left's primary, held the day before in Trappes. The event highlights a shared aversion to La France insoumise.
On November 16, 2025, in Pontoise in Val-d'Oise, Raphaël Glucksmann, leader of Place publique and a well-placed MEP in polls, joined Bernard Cazeneuve, former prime minister, for a "reformist left" gathering. Also present were former President François Hollande, Occitanie region President Carole Delga, former minister François Rebsamen, and economist Philippe Aghion. The meeting aims to prepare for the 2027 presidential election against the far-right threat, opposing the "unitary left" – from the Socialist Party (PS) to the Ecologists – which advocated a common candidacy at a Trappes (Yvelines) meeting on November 16.
Glucksmann, who refused unitary invitations, stated: “Our conversation is just a beginning,” because “we no longer have the right to play. Nothing guarantees that in one, two, or three years, we will still live in a continent at peace and in democracy.” Cazeneuve, who left the PS in 2022 after its alliance with La France insoumise (LFI) led by Jean-Luc Mélenchon and founded La Convention, praised Glucksmann's talent: “Raphaël has talent. He can embody this candidacy for 2027, like many others.”
A common point: aversion to LFI, which held a meeting near Tours the same day. Cazeneuve criticizes the unitary primary as “an operation of tired apparatuses” and calls to reconstitute a "government left force." Hollande implicitly invites PS leader Olivier Faure to join: “We need to be complete next time to win in 2027.”
Unitaries react: Clémentine Autain criticizes Glucksmann's choice not to join the "heart of the left." Faure concedes Glucksmann can "embody what he wants." Delga doubts Faure's support within the PS. Guillaume Lacroix of the Left Radical Party states Glucksmann's family is in this room, not with the unitaries. Cazeneuve refuses a personal candidacy, calling to unite reformist components beyond organizations.