2023-07-19 13:33:28
Rather than spending the summer sipping cocktails by the sea or hiking in the mountains, two (very) young elected Euros decided, at the age of 22, to embark on a major “Tour de France… around the ‘Eure’ as they baptized it. Because according to them, “all the national issues are present in our territory which is both very rural, but also urban, wedged between two metropolises that are Paris and Rouen”.
For three months, Louis Speybrouck, deputy mayor of Vaudreuil, and Antoine Richard, municipal councilor for youth in Vernon, decided to survey their department up and down aboard a 4L with which they have already exceeded 2000 kilometers on the clock. “It is a vehicle which attracts sympathy and which evokes the France of carefree, happy days”, assures the first. In complete freedom, and “without referring to our respective mayors. It was above all a personal approach, ”says the second, his eye on the road and the gear lever from another age in his hand.
“Wherever we go, people tell us about a feeling of downgrading which often turns into resentment, even anger”
Louis Speybrouck, Deputy Mayor of Vaudreuil
An idea that the two law students had following the last legislative elections where the National Rally won four of the five seats to be filled in the Eure. “We wanted to understand how we got there by going to meet elected officials, business leaders, employees, residents from all walks of life…”, explains Antoine Richard. Rather referenced on the right, they nevertheless want to be transpartisan. “We are not campaigning. On the contrary, we want to get as close as possible to our territory to better understand it and discuss it with everyone”, continues his comrade, marked by this first month of exchanges: “Wherever we go, people talk to us about a feeling of downgrading. In the countryside, they have the impression of being ignored, that public services are further and further away, that schools are closing. And this feeling often turns into resentment, even anger, which pushes them to vote for the extremes. »
A book of testimonies and reflection
Today, it is Benjamin Maugy, the boss of a family SME specializing in wood construction, who welcomes them to his company in Iville, very close to Neubourg. At the head of around thirty employees, the manager of the construction industry was seduced by their approach. “We often criticize politicians by saying that they are disconnected or above ground. So I found it interesting to see these young people wanting to go into contact with the population to learn from these meetings. And to be better elected officials, ”hopes the entrepreneur who opens up bluntly to his two guests. “With the Covid, I almost put the key under the door”, he recalls from the outset. “I even had a depression. It was necessary to take very hard decisions, to dismiss people that I liked, and who had nothing to reproach themselves with, to ensure the survival of this company created by my great-grandfather in 1921. Somewhere, I didn’t want to be the Maugy who was going to sink the box. The pressure was strong. . Concentrated, Louis and Antoine each take notes so as not to forget anything about this story and the way in which Benjamin Maugy has bounced back by investing in a brand new workshop “which should guarantee the sustainability of the company”, thanks in particular to the help of the France recovery system.
In the weeks to come, they have scheduled periods of immersion alongside the police or in the emergency room to better understand the daily life of those who work in the field, in contact with the population. “At the end of these three months, we are going to write a book that will take up all these testimonies, analyzing the situation and proposing lines of thought to improve things”, specify the two elected officials who feel that they will no longer be quite the same at the end of this busy summer.
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