Jean-Luc Melenchon, leader of France Unbowed (LFI) and a candidate in France's 2027 presidential election, is emerging as one of the race's leading outsiders, according to the Wall Street Journal. His party has used the recent wave of student demonstrations to broaden its appeal, with a recent poll placing him in position to reach a runoff against National Rally candidate Marine Le Pen, ahead of several mainstream party figures.
His platform remains one of the most radical in French politics: canceling part of the public debt, prosecuting the governor of the Bank of France, nationalizing swaths of the economy, and pulling France out of NATO. Melenchon has also called for raising the minimum wage, capping prices on fuel and essential goods, lowering the retirement age to 60, and imposing a wealth tax targeting fortunes above 100 million euros.