French conservative lawmaker defects to Zemmour's presidential bid

FILE PHOTO: French Member of Parliament of the right-wing Les Republicains (LR) party Guillaume Peltier waits for the arrival of French President Emmanuel Macron for a visit on the theme of the "learning summer camps" at Chambord castle, France July 22, 2020. Ludovic Marin/Pool via REUTERS

PARIS (Reuters) - A conservative lawmaker who until last year was No. 2 in the centre-right Les Republicains party on Sunday said he was defecting to join the ranks of far-right presidential challenger Eric Zemmour.

Guillaume Peltier said he had no confidence in Les Republicains party presidential nominee Valerie Pecresse, describing her as too ideologically close to centrist President Emmanuel Macron.