Close to Jean-Luc Mélenchon and MP for Bouches-du-Rhône, what are Manuel Bompard’s chances of becoming Prime Minister in a hypothetical left-wing government?
Manuel Bompard was re-elected as a member of parliament in the 4th constituency of Bouches-du-Rhône after the early legislative elections. The candidate nominated by the New Popular Front won 67.49% of the vote in the first round, enough to keep his seat in the National Assembly. Coordinator of La France Insoumise and an important political figure on the left, loyal to Jean-Luc Mélenchon, the name of Manuel Bompard is sometimes mentioned to occupy the position of Prime Minister of a left-wing government since the victory of the NFP in the legislative elections.
Double campaign manager for Jean-Luc Mélenchon
Born in 1986 in Firminy in the Loire, to a father who was a computer scientist and a mother who worked in housing, Manuel Bompard graduated from Ensimag at the Grenoble Polytechnic Institute, then became a doctor in mathematics in 2011. His political commitment began when he joined the Left Party in 2009. During the 2014 European elections, he became Jean-Luc Mélenchon’s campaign manager. Campaign manager for Jean-Luc Mélenchon in 2017 and then candidate in the legislative elections the same year in the 9th constituency of Haute-Garonne for La France insoumise, he was defeated in the second round with 47.67% of the vote by The Republic on the moveIn 2019, he was elected as a Member of the European Parliament under the banner of La France Insoumise. Manuel Bompard was again appointed campaign manager for Jean-Luc Mélenchon in 2021 for the presidential election to be held the following year.
Subsequently, he was elected in the 2022 legislative elections in the 4th constituency of Bouches-du-Rhône and replaced Jean-Luc Mélenchon under the NUPES banner. He became a member of the Finance Committee of the National Assembly. Due to the ban on holding multiple mandates, he was forced to give up his mandate in the European Parliament, replaced by Marina Mesure. In December 2022, a new LFI leadership was organized around Manuel Bompard. A candidate for his own succession in the early legislative elections of 2024, he was re-elected in the 4th constituency of Bouches-du-Rhône, after having actively participated in the creation of the New Popular Front with Marine Tondelier (EELV), Olivier Faure (PS) and Fabien Roussel (PCF), the new union of the left to block the National Rally (RN). A strategy that paid off for the left, which won this legislative election.
Should the new Prime Minister be part of LFI?
For Manuel Bompard, “in a coalition, the Prime Minister must come from the political party that has the greatest number of parliamentarians within this coalition. I believe that we must remain faithful to this practice because it is what allows the stability of this coalition” explained the deputy this Tuesday, July 9 at the microphone of CNEWS-Europe 1 during the “Grande Interview”. In other words: the new tenant of Matignon must be part of La France insoumise, and not other left-wing groups such as the Socialist Party, the French Communist Party or Europe-Ecologie-Les Verts.
However, on Monday, July 8, the Coordinator of La France Insoumise wanted to remain moderate regarding the victory of the left-wing alliance in the last legislative election. “Not everyone won. There is a political coalition, the New Popular Front, which came out on top in the second round of the legislative elections and which has the largest number of deputies in the National Assembly (…) And then, there are losers, the Macronist camp, which lost many seats and was relegated to second position,” he explained on the set of “4 Vérités” on France 2.
“We have several names to suggest: Bompard, Panot, Guetté…”
While Manuel Bompard’s name is sometimes mentioned to occupy the post of Prime Minister in a hypothetical left-wing government after the NFP’s victory in the legislative elections, the main person concerned does not seem to want to draw attention to himself. On the contrary, according to him, another personality would hold the rope to enter Matignon, it is Jean-Luc Mélenchon: “He has the assets to exercise this function. He is in line with the program that we defended during this election” declared the deputy this Tuesday on CNews. However, the name of Manuel Bompard was rightly cited by Jean-Luc Mélenchon on LCI: “Olivier Faure proposed that the largest parliamentary group propose a Prime Minister. We have several names to propose: Manuel Bompard, Mathilde Panot, Clémence Guetté…” he declared.
On the other hand, according to a CSA poll for CNews, Europe 1, and the JDD, Manuel Bompard does not appear as a possible minister at Matignon in the eyes of the French. When asked “who do you want as Prime Minister”, 16% of those surveyed answered Jordan Bardella, Gabriel Attal came in second (14%) ahead of François Ruffin (7%). Raphael Glucksmann (6%), Jean-Luc Mélenchon (5%), and François Hollande (4%) followed. Manuel Bompard, for his part, does not appear in the top nine political figures cited by those surveyed.