Zemmour wants to kick out ‘foreign unemployed people’ after last month’s violent protests.

French far-right Eric Zemmour, known for his anti-Islam and anti-immigrant stance, says he’ll be standing in next year’s presidential election.

“I can confirm to you that I will indeed be ⁠a candidate in the presidential election”, Zemmour told TF1 TV, adding that he was running to “keep a France that is French”.

Zemmour, a 68-year-old Jewish author and veteran television commentator, finished fourth in the 2022 presidential election.

This time, he says he wants to expel foreign offenders who are in prison, as well as “foreign unemployed people who have been out of work for more than six months”, even if they are legal residents.

He says he wants “two million fewer immigrants” in France, who are seen by many among the far right as key instigators of violence during last month’s student-led cost of living protests.

Last month’s violence has led to the soaring popularity of frontrunner Marine Le Pen, with whom Zemmour will be competing against in April 2027.

Le Pen, who is the leader of the far-right National Rally party, is widely projected to win the election to replace Emmanuel Macron, who will end his term as president of France.

Meanwhile, far-left candidate Jean-Luc Melenchon of the France Unbowed party, who has been accused of encouraging the unrest, unveiled his programme on Saturday to some 17,000 supporters.