French Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau has been elected as the new leader of the centrist Les Républicains party.

The politician is likely to run for president in 2027.

With just over 74% of the vote in the party's internal elections, Rectairo convincingly defeated Laurent Wauquiez, who is the party's leader in the lower house of the French parliament.

Wauquiez caused outrage during the campaign with his proposal that migrants awaiting deportation be sent to the remote French islands of Saint Pierre and Miquelon off the coast of Canada. | BGNES, AFP