Navy blue jacket and pants, small white canvas bag with the “Emmanuel Macron avec vous” logo, white sneakers and T-shirt. Unlike his ancestors, Pierre Baudis, 34, son of Dominique and grandson of Pierre, does not wear a tie. He is campaigning in the 1re constituency of Haute-Garonne. The one which was long intended for the mayor of Toulouse, the one whose grandfather, mayor of the city from 1971 to 1983, was deputy from 1958 to 1978 then from 1986 to 1988, the one whose father, mayor from 1983 to 2001, was also deputy from 1988 to 1994 and from 1997 to 2001.
This Wednesday 1is June, Pierre Baudis does not take long to drop the jacket. It is just over 10 a.m. and the day is already shaping up to be particularly hot. Here he is in front of the Victor-Hugo market, in the city center, flanked by a small team of young macronists, who challenge passers-by. “Hello, I am Pierre Baudis, candidate for the presidential majority in the legislative elections. » This one, born in Morocco, knew his father when the latter directed the Institute of the Arab world in Paris. “You look like Henri Leconte [l’ex-joueur de tennis] when he was young “, launches another – not very physiognomist -, who would linger to chat and had not, at first glance, identified the candidate. And then this one again, who remembers: “My daughter went with you to the Grand-Rond garden, she is your age. » And finally, this other who is still thinking about the first round, but who “will be there on the second”criticizes his fine mustache. “Your father was a handsome man. He presented well. The mustache is not serious. »
Whether he likes it or not, Pierre Baudis is no exception: although no physical resemblance strikes the eye, here, in Toulouse, his name constantly brings him back to his paternal origins. Old and old, fifties, forties and younger, not a Toulousaine, not a Toulousain, native or not, has forgotten the era of the Baudis at the Capitol. Thirty years that have marked the city, in particular by bringing to light the red brick of its building facades, and by providing it with two metro lines which, from Minimes to Ramonville-Saint-Agne, and from Gramont to Mirail, have reduces travel distances and times.
Invested by Macron
Since 1997, Pierre Baudis has also been the name of the congress centre, built in the Compans-Caffarelli district in place of a former barracks, a stone’s throw from the town center and the canal. It annoys him, but, surname obliges, Pierre Baudis embodies, in spite of himself, this heritage. He doesn’t deny his lineage, he never says ” my father “ most « Dominique »however he does not feel like an heir. “Since the age of 18, I have been working and earning my living, he pleads. I was a journalist at Figaro and at TF1. During the first Covid confinement, I created a bicycle repair business in Paris and I work for a company that helps VSEs and SMEs manage their accounts. »
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