President of the Regional Council of Île-de-France (2015–present)
In December 2015, Pécresse led a list of candidates of the Union of the Right, a coalition of centrist and right-wing parties, which narrowly won the Île-de-France regional election with 43.8% of the second-round vote, defeating the Union of the Left, a coalition of socialists and ecologists, led by Claude Bartolone, coming second with 42.1%, ahead of the National Front led by Wallerand de Saint-Just at 14%. She became the first woman to hold the office of President of the Regional Council of Île-de-France. In the party's 2016 presidential primaries Pécresse endorsed former prime minister Alain Juppé. Amid the Fillon affair, in March 2017, she joined Xavier Bertrand, Christian Estrosi and others in calling for Juppé to replace François Fillon as the party's candidate.
In response to the Brexit vote in 2016, Pécresse helped launch an initiative of corporate leaders and politicians – including Anne Hidalgo, Gérard Mestrallet and Christian Noyer – to attract business from London. She has since been saying publicly that France was rolling out the "red-white-and-blue carpet" for UK bankers.
Ahead of The Republicans' 2017 leadership election, Pécresse founded her own political movement Libres! in July 2017. She also publicly opposed newly elected LR president Laurent Wauquiez, warning against his possible "porosity" to the far-right National Front's ideas. She later announced her resignation from LR on 5 June 2019, three days after Wauquiez's resignation from the presidency of the party.
In 2019, Pécresse announced plans to boost the number of people in the Paris region who cycle to work by investing 100 million euros in new cycle lanes and infrastructure and a subsidised electric bike rental scheme before 2021.
In the 2021 regional election, Pécresse was reelected with an increased second-round majority at 45.9% of the vote, defeating Julien Bayou of Europe Ecology – The Greens at 33.6%, Jordan Bardella of the National Rally (formerly National Front) at 10%, and Laurent Saint-Martin of La République En Marche! at 9.6%.
Pécresse's tenure has coincided with the rollout of the Paris Métro's Grand Paris Express (GPE) megaproject, launched under her predecessor. In 2023 she proposed an additional line, presented as the future Line 19, in the north of Île-de-France, following calls from officials from Val-d'Oise. In 2025 Le Monde recognised "colossal expenses" in regional investment in Île-de-France's public transport network with €22 billion allocated since Pécresse had taken office, making it the world's second-busiest after Tokyo's.
In 2024, Pécresse unveiled a new public transport ticket pricing system throughout the region regardless of distance. Previously, a single trip could cost up to €5; on 1 January 2025 a trip became capped at €2.50. She stated the "new fares will result in an increase in transport usage of around 1 to 2%", thus financing the price decline. She hailed an improvement of the "freedom of movement" across Île-de-France.
Amid the 2026 municipal elections and the controversies surrounding La France Insoumise following the death of Quentin Deranque, she called the party a "poison", and disparaged other left-wing parties for their "moral capitulation" after allying with LFI.
