Several times minister of François Mitterrand, mayor of Dunkirk for twenty-five years, Michel Delebarre died on Saturday April 9, in an Ehpad in Lille, at the age of 75. For several months, he had been very weakened by severe diabetes. Tributes have multiplied, Martine Aubry saluting a “great figure of the left of the North” and former President François Hollande a “authentic European social democrat”. “He will have served in a manner exemplary the French Republic throughout his life”wrote Emmanuel Macron, in a press release.
Son of a real estate agent, honorary reserve commander, Michel Delebarre was born on April 27, 1946, in Bailleul (Nord). A graduate in geography, he married Jeanine Debeyre, daughter of the rector of Lille, Guy Debeyre, whom he knew in third grade and with whom he had a daughter, Caroline. His father-in-law brought him into the Nord-Pas-de-Calais expansion committee in 1968. And he is quickly conquered by his qualities: “He devoured the files; he assimilated everything like a sponge. » In July 1970, the young geographer, who describes himself as “needy because not very talented”, knocks on the door of Pierre Mauroy, General Counsel. It is the beginning of a long companionship. Very soon he has a “craving for power” and, in the North, it is the socialists who hold the controls. His mother hoped that“he wouldn’t do politics”but in 1974 he joined the Socialist Party (PS).
Senior Prefect
General secretary of the city of Lille in 1979, Michel Delebarre became, on May 27, 1981, project manager for the Prime Minister. He follows police affairs and the secret services. With his serious air that struggles to hide his joviality, he is easy and warm to contact but takes pleasure in flushing out little secrets in the shadows. He is appreciated for his calm way of ” mill ” delicate cases. On May 28, 1982, Mauroy made him his chief of staff and he played a discreet role in decentralization. He deals as equal to equal with the world of prefects, whom he dreams of joining. One of his greatest joys is to be named, the 1is May 1983, senior prefect.
On July 19, 1984, Michel Delebarre was appointed, until March 20, 1986, Minister of Labour, Employment and Vocational Training in the government of Laurent Fabius. Workaholic, he is up to the task and builds relationships of trust with the unions. He was then, under the government of Michel Rocard, Minister of Social Affairs and Employment (May-June 1988), then Minister of Transport (June 1988-December 1990) – he notably managed conflicts at the RATP and in the air navigation –, and he will obtain his marshal’s baton as Minister of State, Minister for the City under the government of Edith Cresson (December 1990-May 1991), to which he will add (from May 1991 to April 1992) the development of the territory, title which he will keep under that of Pierre Bérégovoy, in charge of the public service. We are then talking about this follower of consensus, who plays the PS renovation card and hates current battles: “You have to get used to it, I don’t know how to get angry, I’m a great calming factor. »
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