The undeclared race to replace Emmanuel Macron

In a memorable phrase that captured his precocious ambition four years before he ran for the French presidency, Nicolas Sarkozy confessed in 2003 that his mind was focused on the top job and “not only when he shaved” every morning. The comment marked the start of his long and fractious struggle to succeed his boss, Jacques Chirac, which he did in 2007. Today, four years before the French elect a successor to their current president, an undeclared race to take over from Emmanuel Macron is also breaking out among his present and former lieutenants.