New year, big ambitions? The socialist mayor of Paris Anne Hidalgo is banking everything on the Olympic Games to decide her future. The president of the National Rally Jordan Bardella is the RN’s weapon against the presidential camp in the European elections. Finally, the Minister of Education Gabriel Attal, omnipresent in 2023, must show that he can play in the big leagues in 2024.
5 mins
■ Anne Hidalgo, a fighter in the Olympics
After the industrial disaster of 2022, which saw her obtain only 1.76% in the presidential election, then a year 2023 marked in particular by her controversial trip to Tahiti, Anne Hidalgo is still hesitant about her future while her image is damaged. Because the mayor of Paris faces many obstacles. The first and most important are obviously the Olympic Games organized for the first time in a century in the French capital. Anne Hidalgo plays her image on it as she has embodied “the Olympic project” since the designation of Paris in 2017.
The socialist councilor knows it: his political future depends on the smooth running of the Games. An uncertain future, because after announcing that she would not continue her adventure at the head of the capital, the mayor is now leaving the mystery lingering. “ She has taken control since the presidential election and is not holding back anything », Judges a communist elected official. But it will be necessary to convince all its allies and in particular the environmentalists who would like to turn the page on two socialist decades at city hall. “We will neither be behind nor in front of Anne Hidalgo », Judges an environmental leader.
On the opposition side, the time has come for revenge after ten years of frosty relations with the mayor, judged “ haughty and brittle » by a right-wing advisor. Anne Hidalgo is also in the sights of the Macron camp and in particular the Minister of Transport. Clément Beaune no longer hides his desire to take over the capital in 2026 and he is not the only one. On the right, his main opponent Rachida Dati is increasing the offensives against him, supported by the president of the Île-de-France region, Valérie Pécresse.
Faced with the waltz of the ambitious, Anne Hidalgo plays the card of patience and prudence: she will only make her intentions public at the end of the Olympic Games.
■ Jordan Bardella, the rising star of the RN
His list – not yet revealed – is at the top of the polls for the European elections next June. Around 30% voting intentions, this is seven points more than the score achieved in 2019 by the party with the flame. Jordan Bardella is now the only politician to appear in the Top 50 of French people’s favorite personalities. The president of the RN comes in 30th place. When Marine Le Pen is no longer even there.
Should the historic leader of the party be worried? Those around him are now used to dismissing the issue. “ Jordan works for Marine, period! », reframes a regular on the sets according to whom the thirty-year-old allows above all to reach a new electorate, younger, also more qualified. But never, ever, will the president of the RN override the one who installed him at the top. “He is from a generation that is afraid of risks so he will wait his turn », Analyzes an MP. He still has to not disappoint in the European elections.
At the RN, we repeat it: “In no case is 30% a goal. We will have won if we beat Emmanuel Macron “. To ensure this, Jordan Bardella plans to campaign from March, accompanied at some of his meetings by the “ boss “. But it is up to him and him alone to inflict the heaviest possible defeat on the majority and prepare the ground for the next presidential election.
■ Gabriel Attal, the year of truth
In 2024, Gabriel Attal will get into the tough stuff. The good student of Macronie who in 2023 dethroned Edouard Philippe in another ranking, that of the French’s favorite political personality, will have to demonstrate that he is not just a champion of communication. “ You need results… watch out for ready-made recipes », Warns a member of the government, referring to the wearing of uniforms at school, which the new Minister of Education wants to launch an experiment with.
For a long time in Macronie, talking about Gabriel Attal meant pressing the praise button. “ He’s ultra-good, he doesn’t make any mistakes “, ” He manages to say something, it changes everything “, ” He feels the subjects “, ” He is stellar ”, we heard. Some even saw him as an ideal successor to replace Elisabeth Borne at Matignon if a reshuffle were to occur at the start of the year or for the second part of the five-year term after the Olympic Games. Some but not all. For a senior member of the majority, scathingly, “ if being talented was enough to become Prime Minister, many would have been “. If you go up too quickly, you don’t just make friends.
In 2024, Gabriel Attal is expected to turn the corner, because according to an MP, “ he has not yet transformed national education “. In other words, he must show his know-how after having used his know-how. And some wonder if Emmanuel Macron, who gave him a good point during his December television interview, will let his young and ambitious minister “make your mark » while the ball of contenders for his succession will open in 2024.