The Independents – Republic and Territories group

The Independents – Republic and Territories group Groupe Les Indépendants – République et Territoires
Chamber	Senate
Foundation	3 October 2017
Previous name(s)	Republic and Territories / The Independents group (2017) Groupe République et Territoires / Les Indépendants
Member parties	LR UDI PRV DVD
President	Claude Malhuret
Constituency	Allier
Representation	11 / 348
Ideology	Liberalism

The Independents – Republic and Territories group (French: groupe Les Indépendants – République et Territoires) is a parliamentary group in the Senate including representatives of The Republicans (LR).

According to a report published in L'Opinion on 20 August 2017, Prime Minister Édouard Philippe met with three senators of The Republicans (LR), Fabienne Keller, Jérôme Bignon, and Claude Malhuret, all of whom supported Alain Juppé during the 2016 primary, on 3 August. Starting in mid-May, a group of a dozen LR senators met regularly to discuss the future of "constructives" in the Senate, and continued after the formation of such a group in the National Assembly. Discussions were also held with the centrist group in the Senate, though the consensus ultimately tilted towards the creation of a new group in the Senate, to be founded in mid-September so as to not disrupt the campaign for the 2017 renewal but be prepared to form a group after the elections on 24 September. Keller confirmed the initiative to Le Monde in early September, claiming that about twenty senators close to Juppé and Le Maire were interested in the initiative, enough to form a parliamentary group, and also floated the possibility of other centrist senators joining the presumptive group. The senators described themselves as "humanists, liberals, Europeans, Girondins and open to the questions of society", distant from the conservatives in The Republicans represented by the Fillonist president of the LR group Bruno Retailleau, who hoped to lead the opposition to the policies of Emmanuel Macron in the Senate.