The three musketeers were actually… four. In his search for a new Prime Minister to succeed Elisabeth Borne, Emmanuel Macron had, as we knew, identified several candidates, with eclectic profiles, likely to become the next head of government: lifelong companion Julien Denormandie, the the current Minister of the Armed Forces Sébastien Lecornu and the one who finally won the cup, Gabriel Attal.
Last week, the Head of State also received, in the company of the Secretary General of the Elysée Alexis Kohler, these three competitors at the Château for casual conversations which had all the makings of a job interview. Pulse of society, general discussion on the political situation, current state of the presidential majority, strategy on how to approach the difficult context in Parliament… Everything is covered. But according to our information, a fourth man was invited to this unusual race at Matignon: Roland Lescure.
The Minister Delegate in charge of Industry, who works under the supervision of Bruno Le Maire in Bercy, also had the right to pass through the door of 55 rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré and the office of the President of the Republic to a secret interview. “It’s a classic process, he sees lots of candidates to ‘feel things out’ and refine what he’s looking for”, deciphers a regular interlocutor of the Head of State. Here it is, a surprise, for the man who entered the government in the summer of 2022 in the wake of Elisabeth Borne, in gratitude for his good and loyal service. Obviously, the Head of State did not hold it against this early Macronist, who we readily place in the left wing of the majority, for having had some qualms towards regarding the immigration law passed in the Assembly, alongside Clément Beaune, Sylvie Retailleau and Patrice Vergriete.
A suprise ? Really ? Roland Lescure certainly does not have the media impact of a Gabriel Attal, the proximity to the president of a Julien Denormandie or the politics that flow in his veins like a Sébastien Lecornu who fell into the UMP pot as a child, but he has with a kind look from Emmanuel Macron. Proof of this is: the former MP and president of the Economic Affairs Committee at the Palais Bourbon was, in June 2022, the candidate supported by the Château for the post of President of the National Assembly. This is perhaps, in part, what cost him his defeat against the current holder of the perch, Yaël Braun-Pivet. A person very close to the president translates the reflections of the tenant of the Elysée: “Lescure knows how to be a leader, he is a collective man, he is appreciated by the majority and he is a new face capable of symbolizing renewal.”
Roaming from factory to factory for a year and a half now, on the ground looking for buyers for companies in difficulty, Roland Lescure symbolized, moreover, the great project of “reindustrialization” of the country launched by the president since the end of the Covid crisis. Original Macronist, loyal, consensual: the Minister responsible for Industry could therefore, for a time, have hoped to replace a Prime Minister to whom he was close and one of the rare pugnacious supporters when the boat was rocking. Contacted, Roland Lescure did not wish to make comments about this meeting and this hypothetical promotion. Who knows, maybe another one is coming?
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