Raphaël Glucksmann, the newly crowned candidate of the French left's primary for the glucksmann french left primary contest ahead of the 2027 presidential election, spent his first full day as standard-bearer issuing a rallying cry - and a warning. Speaking on Monday, the 46-year-old EU lawmaker and leader of the small centre-left party Place Publique said his campaign to rally a divided left was now under way.

A unity call on day one

Glucksmann told broadcaster Radio France on Monday: "At last, the battle begins." The declaration came the day after he secured the centre-left ticket in Sunday's first-round vote, and he framed the campaign ahead as a break with years of electoral pessimism.

"Finally, we're banishing the spirit of defeat from our hearts. I've had enough of this left that doesn't believe in victory," he said. He added that his "entire life has prepared me for this historic moment".

The task he inherits is historic in a negative sense: the French left has been shut out of the presidential second round ever since François Hollande won in 2012.

Flour attack and a demand aimed at Mélenchon

Even before his unity call, the campaign had turned physical. On Sunday night, as Glucksmann left a Paris bar where he had been celebrating his victory, a protester pelted him with flour.

He responded by blaming activists of Jean-Luc Mélenchon's France Unbowed (LFI) for a pattern of harassment, saying he was "ready to face the violence and brutality of this campaign".

His accusation against the party that boycotted the primary was specific:

• •"At every event we organise, at every demonstration we attend, there are LFI activists who harass, insult, throw flour at, or threaten people."

• •"Jean-Luc Mélenchon must formally condemn the fact that his supporters are carrying out these attacks."

The demand puts the LFI leader under direct pressure to disown the behaviour Glucksmann alleges, on the very day the victor sought to widen his coalition.

Outreach to Hollande, doors closed to LFI

The coalition Glucksmann described on Monday has a clear guest list - and an equally clear exclusion. France Unbowed boycotted the primary, and Glucksmann has ruled out any alliance with LFI.

The door he is trying to open belongs to Hollande, the former president who did not take part in the primary and is believed to be eyeing another presidential run. According to Glucksmann, Hollande "warmly congratulated" him after the result.

The new candidate made no secret of wanting the former president on board. "I want him to be part of our team," Glucksmann said, adding that he could not imagine a former president devoting themselves to anything other than the national interest.

The road ahead to 2027

The polling picture the primary winner faces is sobering:

• •Glucksmann is currently polling in the low teens in voter surveys, well behind frontrunner Marine Le Pen, the far-right candidate.

• •He also trails Edouard Philippe, the centre-right contender who served as prime minister under President Emmanuel Macron, and Jean-Luc Mélenchon.

• •Le Pen has benefited from one of the most fractured political landscapes in modern French history, with traditional forces weaker than ever.

• •The left has not reached the second round since 2012, and Ifop director Frédéric Dabi has said the primary win, while notable, is not necessarily a "game changer" in a likely long, bruising campaign.

Observers point to one opening: Glucksmann is well positioned to attract centre-left voters who once supported Macron but are reluctant to back Mélenchon - a threat to centrist hopefuls Philippe and Gabriel Attal.

With the primary behind him, Glucksmann says he is ready for the violence and brutality of a contest that, in his own words on Monday, has only just begun - with the presidential vote due in April-May 2027.