The name of the party was chosen a reference to the phrase "Moi président de la République...",[2] repeated by François Hollande against Nicolas Sarkozy in the debate between the two rounds of the 2012 presidential election.

It claims to go beyond the left-right divide with a program created through "participatory democracy" supportive of globalization and critical of the French labor code.

[1] In the 2014 municipal elections, Nous Citoyens offered its support to any candidates committed to "good governance, transparency, and the non-accumulation of mandates",[5] and won a total of 58 seats across 18 communes.

[8] On 8 September 2013, Payre was replaced as president of Nous Citoyens by centrist Member of the European Parliament Jean-Marie Cavada, who consequently stepped down as vice-president of the New Centre and Union of Democrats and Independents.

Payre, wishing to focus on social entrepreneurship projects over his political commitments, became vice-president of the party, which claimed 12,000 members at the time of Cavada's accession.