Among the Republicans, the position has made more than one person dream, but the Prime Minister seems to have made his decision. Bruno Retailleau is said to be the favorite to succeed Gérald Darmanin, but is considered too right-wing by the Macronists.
On the right, the battle for the Ministry of the Interior took place internally and it seems that the leader of the LR in the Senate distinguished himself from his counterpart in the National Assembly. Laurent Wauquiez announced on Thursday, September 19, to the deputies of his group that he would not be part of the government led by Michel Barnier. The leader of the LR deputies at the Palais Bourbon said no to the Ministry of the Economy where the new Prime Minister preferred to send him. The way is therefore clear for another tenor of the right, Bruno Retailleauwho is also aiming for the position of “France’s top cop”. Especially since, following the Prime Minister’s visit to the Elysée on Thursday evening, BFMTV And The Figaroclaimed that the name of Bruno Retailleau was proposed by Michel Barnier to Emmanuel Macron for the Ministry of the Interior.
Is Bruno Retailleau compatible with Macron?
Bruno Retailleau is on the same line as the Prime Minister on immigration and security. The former sovereignist – he sat in Philippe de Villiers’ party – is also in line with Gérald Darmanin, who initiated the immigration bill to which he contributed greatly. Bruno Retailleau indeed participated greatly in drafting the toughened version of the immigration law adopted at the end of 2023, before his group’s contributions were largely censored by the Constitutional Council. “The State has lost control,” he judged in an interview published on the LR party website. He “can no longer enforce his laws, protect those who serve them, contain uncontrolled immigration, control the neighborhoods where weapons of war are being fired upon, […] nor to secure its prisons,” he explained.
The senator representing a hard right within LR, his nomination would be seen as a new shift to the right of the government. If a shift to the right of power has been criticized to Emmanuel Macron, notably by the left, the President of the Republic does not share the positions of the right-wing senator. If Michel Barnier chooses Bruno Retailleau, the nomination of the politician might not be to the taste of the head of state.
Retailleau favourite, two additional names cited
In the event that Bruno Retailleau was not ultimately selected, two other names had been mentioned for a time: Frederic Pechenard And Laurent NuñezThe former director general of the national police, Frédéric Péchenard, was in fact pulled out of a hat, according to The Point. The man is close to Nicolas Sarkozy and he has already been approached by Emmanuel Macron for the Ministry of the Interior. In 2018, the man was offered a position under Christophe Castaner, which he refused due to lack of room to maneuver. But Frédéric Péchenard could be tempted to become the top cop in France, a position that would remind him of his professional career.
More recently, the name of Laurent Nuñez had also come up on the table. The Paris police prefect was one of the hypotheses, but this seems to be moving away, according to Politico. The man nevertheless worked as Secretary of State at the Ministry of Place Beauvau between 2018 and 2020 and made a career in the police until becoming Police Prefect of Marseille and then Paris. Did Laurent Nuñez refuse an offer because he felt better in his position than in a future government with an uncertain future? The question deserves to be asked.