Former French PM’s City Hall Searched in Favoritism Case

(Bloomberg) -- Police searched the Le Havre city hall run by a former French prime minister, Edouard Philippe, on Wednesday as part of an investigation into potential favoritism, unlawful conflicts of interest, embezzlement and harassment.

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The evidence-gathering raids in the port city come as speculation mounts over who is best placed to take on Marine Le Pen’s far right party in 2027, when Emmanuel Macron’s second term ends.

The current French president has no obvious successor within his party with contenders ranging from Philippe or Prime Minister Gabriel Attal.

In an Ipsos poll last month, Philippe topped a list of potential successors with 36% of voters saying they would be satisfied if he were France’s next president.

On Wednesday, Philippe told BFM TV that he would answer any of the authority’s questions “to demonstrate — in good faith — that we complied with the rules.” Le Havre city hall added in a statement that the case concerns the running of a digital campus known as “La Cité Numérique.”

Prosecutors at France’s Parquet National Financier opened a preliminary investigation in December after receiving a complaint, a person familiar said who asked not to be identified as the matter is private.

Newspaper Le Monde first reported the searches earlier on Wednesday.

Read more: Macron’s Flawed Plan to Protect France From Le Pen and Far Right

(Updates with comment from Edouard Philippe in the fifth paragraph)

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