Tipped to be Minister of Families, Laurence Garnier’s conservative profile does not go down well on the left or in the presidential camp. Emmanuel Macron has also warned about this choice.
This is a name that is being talked about among the potential ministers chosen by Michel Barnier, the Prime Minister having submitted a list of 38 names to the President last night to form the new government. Laurence Garnier is reportedly being considered to be Minister of Families, succeeding Sarah El Haïry, but Emmanuel Macron has reportedly asked for her name to be withdrawn, according to BFMTV.
“We might as well block her now and avoid a bad buzz for weeks,” confided a former minister on the case of Laurence Garnier. The woman who entered politics in the Nantes region after several years of community involvement alongside young people with learning difficulties is not, in fact, unanimous. Some of her conservative positions are controversial. The senator from Loire-Atlantique notably supported the Manif pour tous, which opposes same-sex marriage. In 2016, as vice-president of the region in charge of Culture, she voted to remove subsidies for the Cinépride festival in Nantes, ensuring that the event would promote surrogacy, a practice banned in France. The organizers, for their part, argued that surrogacy was not part of their demands.
She also fought against the constitutionalization of abortion. She said at the time: “Our fellow citizens expect the government to take care of straightening out our country, rather than problems that do not exist.” The mother of four, who claims to be Catholic, also voted against the bill aimed at making conversion therapy, which aims to try to change the sexual orientation of a homosexual, bisexual or lesbian person, a criminal offense.
“The government of the ‘Manif pour tous'”, denounces Mathilde Panot
Her profile is therefore difficult to accept, especially for a ministry in charge of family affairs. The mention of her name has caused a lot of reaction on the left. “The French did not vote against the constitutionalization of abortion, against marriage for all, against the ban on conversion therapy. Laurence Garnier as Minister of the Family would be yet another betrayal of the vote of French women and men,” denounced the socialist MP for Nantes, Karim Benbrahim, on X. The same story for the rebellious MP, Manon Aubry, on X: “I have no more words. Just crazy anger” as well as for the socialist senator, Laurence Rossignol: “The names of parliamentarians who voted against the constitutionalization of abortion are circulating. Has no one drawn a red line?”, she wonders. The presidential camp is also cautious about this potential nomination. “I feel pain for my France. I didn’t sign up for this. I’ve been vomiting for three hours,” testified a Renaissance parliamentarian to BFMTV.
Among the names of ministerial candidates mentioned, Laurence Garnier is not the only one to have such positions. Bruno Retailleau, head of the LR in the Senate cited for the Interior, also demonstrated against marriage for all and voted against the constitutionalization of abortion this year. The same goes for Patrick Hetzel who could become Minister of Higher Education. “It’s going to be the government of the ‘Manif pour tous'”, Mathilde Panot, president of the rebellious deputies, was then annoyed this Friday on TF1. Following the various reactions, will the list proposed by Michel Barnier change? “Usual ethical checks” by the services of Matignon have been announced.