Stunned for a long time, he refused to mention the bitter, unexpected and humiliating failure that had once again struck his destiny. Then, as time passed, Alain Juppé ended up joking about it, designating himself as the “less sustainable of the ministers of sustainable development” (one month), as told in his book Clear prints and lines (JC Lattès, 2021) ex-Prime Minister Edouard Philippe, who at the time was special adviser to this right-wing figure. This June 17, 2007, the number two in the government of François Fillon, still marked by his Canadian exile caused by the affair of the fictitious jobs of the City of Paris, had to resign from his functions as Minister of State after his defeat in the elections. legislative in the 2e constituency of the Gironde.
Fifteen years later, the memory of this electoral rout still haunts the minds of the ministers just appointed by Emmanuel Macron. Because the rule “stiff but essential”, according to an adviser to the Head of State, remains the same. The Elysée tenant again reminded his new team, including the Prime Minister, Elisabeth Borne, at the end of May: no derogation will be possible.
Fifteen ministers are in the running for the legislative elections on 12th and 19th June, ie more than half of the government. For a large part, without being acquired, victory seems promised. But for the others ? In this campaign which struggles to excite the crowds, constituencies considered yesterday as easy conquests seem, today, delicate. The offensive led by Jean-Luc Mélenchon at the head of the New Popular, Ecological and Social Union (Nupes) for, he says “to be elected prime minister”, cheered up some of the left-wing voters. To the point of making this new formation the main adversary of the Macronist candidates, ahead of the far right embodied during the presidential election by Marine Le Pen, which has become very discreet. “The most complicated duels will be with Nupes”, attests the director of the IFOP polling institute, Frédéric Dabi.
“Some candidates will be defeated”
Emmanuel Macron’s entourage has no doubts about obtaining a majority in the National Assembly thanks to the candidates of La République en Marche (LRM) and its allies from the MoDem and Horizons united under the Together banner. But “some candidates will be defeated”admits a relative of the Head of State.
Among the profiles at risk is Clément Beaune. The Minister Delegate for Europe faces in the 7e district of Paris (straddling the 4e11e et 12e boroughs), the Nupes candidate Caroline Mécary, a lawyer known for her defense of the LGBT community. At just 40 years old, this close friend of Emmanuel Macron from the left who claims to be “camp of reason” plays big for his first electoral experience in a constituency where the presidential votes were divided in the first round between Jean-Luc Mélenchon and Emmanuel Macron. But aware that he might not be a minister “just for a while”this fervent European considers the fight necessary to cross one by one the levels of his promising political career.
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