French centrists struggle to find unity candidate as extremes surge in polls – POLITICO

PARIS — Senior representatives for France’s feuding centrist presidential candidates are sitting down for lunch Wednesday to figure out who is best placed to take on Marine Le Pen in the spring 2027 election race to replace Emmanuel Macron.

But a compromise that could save the political center from being crushed by the extremes doesn’t look like it’s on the menu.

Supporters of Gabriel Attal and Edouard Philippe, two of Macron’s former prime ministers courting similar voters, are growing increasingly anxious that the duo’s internecine duel will drag on so long that it will damage the centrist camp’s chances.