The Republicans

The Republicans ( ; LR) is a liberal-conservative political party in France, largely inspired by the Gaullist tradition. The party was formed on 30 May 2015 as the re-incorporation of the Union for a Popular Movement (UMP), which had been established in 2002 under the leadership of then President of France Jacques Chirac. LR, as previously the UMP, used to be one of the two major political parties in the French Fifth Republic along with the centre-left Socialist Party. It is the largest party in the Senate since 2014. Its candidate in the 2017 presidential election, former Prime Minister François Fillon, placed third in the first round, with 20% of the vote. Following the 2017 legislative election, LR became the second-largest party in the National Assembly, behind President Emmanuel Macron's La République En Marche! party. After disappointing results in the 2019 European Parliament election, party leader Laurent Wauquiez resigned. He was replaced by Christian Jacob, who remained in office until after the 2022 legislative election, which saw LR lose half its seats although it became the kingmaker in a hung parliament. In the 2022 presidential election, LR nominee Valérie Pécresse placed fifth with 4.7% of the first-round vote, which was deemed disappointing. Eric Ciotti became President of LR after the 2022 leadership election. LR is a member of the European People's Party (EPP) and the Centrist Democrat International (CDI). History