Head to head

Pick two contenders to compare their scores and their run-off match-up.

If they met in the run-off

Édouard Philippe 46.8% 53.2% Bruno Retailleau

Model projection based on the latest first-round polls and on vote transfers calibrated on run-off polls. See the method.

Theme	Édouard Philippe	Bruno Retailleau
Pensions	Gradually raise the legal retirement age to 65 and the contribution period to 45 years, with a third of employees exempted.	Announces a new pension reform, with no details published so far.
Work and purchasing power	Exempt two hours of overtime a week from contributions (about €1,000 more a year on the minimum wage); cap unemployment benefits at 12 months for under-50s.	Cut regulations for businesses; build a million extra homes in five years by scrapping the “zero net land take” target.
Taxes and spending	Replace only one civil servant in three who retire; a single family allowance of €350 a month from the first child; some twenty ordinances from July 2027.	No specific proposal known.
Immigration	Halve legal immigration (well under 200,000 residence permits a year); a European list of safe countries whose nationals could no longer claim asylum.	A referendum on immigration, prepared by a revision of the Constitution.
Europe and defence	Reaffirmed support for Ukraine.	No specific proposal known.
Energy and climate	A single climate-adaptation fund of €2 billion a year.	No specific proposal known.
Institutions and security	No specific proposal known.	A constitutional revision put to a referendum from autumn 2027, with a “Charter of republican order”; a state of emergency in neighbourhoods hit by drug trafficking.

Édouard PhilippeBruno Retailleau