Macron opponents elect Right-wing leader

France’s conservative Republican party elected a new hardline leader in a shift to the Right that members hope will recover their voice.

Laurent Wauquiez, 42, is a fierce critic of Emmanuel Macron, the centrist president, whom he dismisses as out of touch with rural France, weak on security and too much in favour of closer European integration.

“Tonight, the Right is back!” he told supporters on Sunday. “France needs the Right because the president is passive against crime and not firm enough against radical Islam.”