Philippe has in recent weeks faced accusations he was being too quiet and running an overly low-profile campaign.
According to early polling, he looked to be comfortably the best-placed centrist candidate to beat the far right in the next presidential election. But more recent polling suggested his lead over former Prime Minister Gabriel Attal and conservative leader Bruno Retailleau was narrowing. Both been campaigning hard to overtake Philippe.
During his hour-long speech in Reims, Philippe sketched out his aims for the campaign, hitting several conservative hot-button topics: lowering taxes on turnover for French companies, slashing red tape, rebalancing the state pension system and fighting crime and drug trafficking.
According to party officials, one of Philippe’s short-term objectives will be to unite the center right around his candidacy, and particularly the conservatives, before trying to widen his appeal.
“I came from the right … I’m not going to apologize,” said Philippe, who is a former member of the conservative Les Républicains party. “And I know where I am, at the head of a rightwing party, and the mayor of Le Havre, a working-class city … that shows that ideas of freedom and responsibility aren’t only the domain of the right-wing electorate.”
In the coming months, the party is hoping for several heavyweights from rival parties to back Philippe, which would put pressure on Attal and Retailleau, said a Horizons lawmaker.