BIOGRAPHY AND NEWS. The New Popular Front has agreed to propose Lucie Castets to Matignon. She agrees to become Prime Minister but Emmanuel Macron closes the door.
The essential news
- Lucie Castets was chosen by the New Popular Front to lead a left-wing government. All the political parties of the agreement, La France Insoumise, the Socialist Party, the ecologists and the Communist Party indicated that she had the support of the entire left-wing union, in a press release on July 23.
- Emmanuel Macron has already firmly indicated that Lucie Castets will not be appointed Prime Minister, like any other personality with the ambition of leading a left-wing government. The head of state has only one scenario in mind, that of appointing to Matignon the head of a coalition government, with majority support in the National Assembly.
The essentials about Lucie Castets
After having come close to a rupture over the names of Huguette Bello and Laurence Tubiana in recent days, the united left has proposed an unprecedented profile to form a government in place of that of Gabriel Attal, who resigned. Lucie Castets, a Norman from Caen, a 37-year-old economist, now director of finance and purchasing for the city of Paris. She was an advisor to Anne Hidalgo on the budget, in particular the finances dedicated to the ecological transition. Her action as director of the budget, finance and purchasing of the capital, a position she has held since December 2023, is praised by the mayor of Paris. “She is sensitive to the general interest. I take on competent collaborators or directors. And who feel concerned. Lucie is one of them”. Her detractors point out that the capital’s debt has increased from 8.2 billion in 2023 to 8.8 billion in 2024.
A graduate of Sciences Po and the London School of Economics, and a former student of the ENA, Lucie Castets held her first position at the General Directorate of the Public Treasury before joining Tracfin, the anti-money laundering unit of the Ministry of the Economy and Finance.
Lucie Castets is a tax expert, committed to the fight against tax fraud. She is also the spokesperson for the civil servants’ collective ‘Our Public Services'”. The founder of this association, Arnaud Bontemps, sent a message to AFP to highlight her “remarkable professional career in the service of the State and local authorities, with strong commitments to tax justice, the fight against tax evasion, (…) on schools, hospitals, social justice”.
Lucie Castets is not a political activist or member of one of the left-wing union parties. However, she was a member of the Socialist Party between 2008 and 2011, when she was very young, and was part of the centre-left think tank “Point d’ancre” in the 2010s. She also worked within the independent movement “Besoin de gauche”, led by Pierre Moscovici, former socialist Minister of the Economy and former European Commissioner for Economic Affairs. She also worked with Manon Aubry, MEP for La France Insoumise, when the latter devoted her action to the fight against tax fraud.
Speaking to AFP, Lucie Castets confirmed that she had accepted the NFP’s proposal to nominate her as Prime Minister. She considers herself to be a “credible and serious” candidate for Matignon and indicated that she would make “the repeal of the pension reform” a priority.
10:11 – Lucie Castets clarifies her priorities as a candidate for Matignon
Chosen by a unanimous New Popular Front to be the left’s candidate for Matignon, Lucie Castets considered herself a “credible and serious” option for the role of Prime Minister. And to give an idea of what her policy could be at the head of the government, the economist defined four “major priorities” to the AFP: the repeal of the pension reform at the top, the implementation of a “major tax reform so that everyone, individuals and multinationals, pays their fair share”, an “improvement of purchasing power” by revaluing salaries and raising social security benefits, then the “end of the regression of public services”.
09:57 – Lucie Castets advocates a government with a “new method”
Still on France Inter, Lucie Castets considered that the arrival of the left in positions of responsibility could correspond to a moment of change in method in governance. “For several years, we have witnessed an extremely vertical practice of power, a despised Parliament, a President who often decides alone and a social dialogue at a standstill. When we talk about federating and seeking positions and agreements on a large scale, it is also with these actors, with the unions, with civil society: and what we are therefore proposing with the new Popular Front is a change of direction, with a change of method”, she affirmed. “We are going to renew dialogue with the unions, with the associations and we are going to give Parliament back its central role in our democracy”, she specified.
09:25 – How Lucie Castets intends to govern without a majority
Asked about the fragility of a left-wing government that could be dismissed at the slightest vote of no confidence – which was announced by the RN and by many deputies of Ensemble pour la République, Lucie Castets gave a roadmap on France Inter. “The program of the new Popular Front is our basis. It has brought together all the left-wing forces in this country, it is an achievement, I still hope that it is recognized, it is very important. Then, it will be a question of convincing the Assembly to have these measures adopted”. And to specify: “The idea is to convince text after text, law after law”, assures Lucie Castets. “We are going to make a change in method compared to what the current government was doing, by seeking coalitions. And I think that there are subjects, in particular public services” that “can bring together very broadly”. “I think that the disintegration of public services was part of what fuelled the votes for the National Rally. And the deputies, outside the New Popular Front, will take their responsibility at that time, when we propose texts likely to improve the functioning of public services.”
09:07 – Fabien Roussel considers Emmanuel Macron’s refusal to appoint Lucie Castets to be “shameful”
“The French feel scorned. That’s what I hear every day, the president is making fun of us,” reacted this Latin on RMC Fabien Roussel, the national secretary of the Communist Party. “He put the same president in the National Assembly, he keeps the same Prime Minister. It’s bread and circuses, it’s like being in ancient Rome. It’s shameful and it’s scandalous,” he added, also indicating that he planned to demonstrate in the street: “Yes, we are going to appeal to the French.”
08:54 – Lucie Castets’ first words since the NFP agreement
Invited to the microphone of France Inter radio this Wednesday, July 24, Lucie Castets, clearly indicated that she would not be the Prime Minister of a coalition government between the left and the Macronist camp and the center, considering this “impossible due to the profound disagreements”, particularly on the pension reform. “I ask the President of the Republic to take his responsibilities and to appoint me Prime Minister”, she insisted, adding: “The denial of democracy, by refusing to call the political party that came out on top in the elections, is serious”.
On her priorities, Lucie Castets considered that “the disintegration of public services”, which “fueled the votes for the National Rally” had to be stopped. She added: “The deputies outside the New Popular Front will take their responsibilities when we propose texts likely to improve the functioning of public services”.
07/23/24 – 11:51 p.m. – “Very human and close to people”: Lucie Castets’ working method
Arnaud Bontemps, one of the co-founders of the collective “Our Public Services”, praised Lucie Castets’ career path “with strong commitments to tax justice, the fight against tax evasion”. He praised, to AFP, “a person very committed to schools, hospitals, social justice”, who according to him “moves very quickly on sometimes very complex subjects, she is very human, close to people”.
07/23/24 – 11:27 p.m. – A commitment to the community
In 2021, Lucie Castets co-founded the collective “Our Public Services”. Around public agents, the objective is to rediscover the meaning that underlies the public service and its daily missions. For Lucie Castets, there is today an “urgency” to change the current model, characterized by a “multiple crisis” and a “disintegration” of the public service.
07/23/24 – 11:01 p.m. – “Undeniable skills”, the role of Lucie Castets at the City of Paris
Lucie Castets joined the City of Paris after her brief stint in politics. She became a Finance and Budget advisor in September 2020, then she was appointed Director of Finance and Purchasing for the capital three years later. “Lucie Castets’ skills are undeniable. She is the one who draws up a budget of 10 billion euros within what is the equivalent for us of Bercy”, praised Patrick Bloche, first deputy of the PS mayor Anne Hidalgo, to L’Opinion.
07/23/24 – 10:40 p.m. – A candidacy for the regional elections in 2015
Lucie Castets was on the Socialist Party list for the 2015 regional elections with candidate Nicolas Mayer-Rossignol in Normandy. “She was then disappointed by François Hollande’s five-year term and handed in her card,” a PS MP who knows her well told Le Figaro.