Macron's EU election flagbearer targets 100-strong alliance with kingmaker role

FILE PHOTO: Nathalie Loiseau, head of the Renaissance (Renewal) list for the European elections, arrives to deliver a speech during a political rally in Strasbourg, France, May 11, 2019. REUTERS/Vincent Kessler/File Photo

PARIS (Reuters) - The flagbearer of President Emmanuel Macron's European election challenge on Sunday foresaw building a centrist alliance of more than 100 lawmakers, enough she said to thrust the French leader and his grouping into the position of kingmaker in the chamber.

Nathalie Loiseau, a career diplomat whose campaign has faltered after a series of early blunders, said detractors who predicted the president's Renaissance grouping would sit isolated in the European parliament would be proven wrong.