Macron's Renaissance party launches major drive to woo paying members

Officials in President Emmanuel Macron's Renaissance party are to launch a nationwide campaign next week in an effort to encourage paying members, and potential voters, into the fold.

France's President Emmanuel Macron's Renaissance party is looking to beef up its numbers. AFP - LUDOVIC MARIN

The centrist party plans to use a close-up of the 44-year-old president and the slogan: "Join Emmanuel Macron's Party".

Around 200,000 posters will be displayed across France and 500,000 leaflets will be distributed. The leaflets will stress policy successes such as capping gas and electricity prices.

Party bigwigs – led by secretary general Stéphane Séjourné – have been thrashing out the final details of how to maximise the drive.

Un parti au travail, fidèle à ses valeurs, à ceux qui les incarnent et fier d'être le parti d'@EmmanuelMacron.

Derniers échanges sur notre campagne d'adhésion qui se déploiera dans les prochains jours sur le terrain, partout dans le pays.

➜ https://t.co/00U23PzNbI pic.twitter.com/lSeDISXFKt

— Stéphane Séjourné (@steph_sejourne) October 27, 2022

The aim of the push will be to bolster party numbers. Latest figures show 27,000 Renaissance faithful.

Before the griminess and compromises of government in 2017, La République en marche (LREM) – as the presidential party was then named – boasted 400,000 souls willing to be associated with Macron's visionary project for his country.

Membership was free before Macron's swept into the Elysée for the first time. Less than eight months into his second term and the LREM revamp into Renaissance, new members will be asked to stump up 30 euros.

"From a movement where there were no contributions, we are moving to a political party, much more structured with an objective: territorial anchoring," Séjourné, told France Télévisions.

"The number one objective is to make the five-year term successful, there are four and a half years left," he added.

Since beating off the challenge of Marine Le Pen for a second successive presidential campaign, Macron's government has had to deal with growing discontent over the rising cost of living due in no small measure to the ramifications of Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February.

"The president has asked us to be in permanent campaign," Séjourné added.

"Renaissance is first and foremost a party of activist and it must remain so.

"There is a European campaign coming up that will require a great militant mobilisation."