This second five-year term like no other is far from over, yet 2027 and its cohort of putative candidates are already moving forward. This last reshuffle with Gabriel Attal at its head – and that puts Rachida Dati back in the saddle – is a new turning point. Behind the scenes, some are learning to dodge tripping, others are familiarizing themselves with the art of conspiracy, in short, everyone is preparing for the post-Emmanuel Macron era with rigor and determination. The L’Express political department offers to help you follow, thanks to a weekly meeting on our websitethe progress of those ambitious people who hope to climb, quickly and without injury, the steps of power.
Presidents and the Salon
Emmanuel Macron has already made an appointment with the farming world: he will be present for the inauguration of the Agricultural Show on February 24. For nothing in the world he would miss this meeting, like all his predecessors – we remember Jacques Chirac’s shows. All his predecessors, or almost: the former Minister of Agriculture Henri Nallet told his distant successor, Marc Fesneau, that François Mitterrand, although sensitive to rurality, had never set foot at the Salon during the 14 years of his presidency.
Europeans: Le Drian? Thanks, but no thanks
Jean-Yves Le Drian, head of the Renaissance list in the Europeans? The hypothesis has continued to grow in recent times and Emmanuel Macron would even be “the first” to entertain the idea. If the main person concerned is flattered to see that his name is coming up with fanfare in the political-media chatter, the rumor annoys him just as much. “The president cannot play like this with people. Jean-Yves will not go and no one can force him to do anything,” we choke on the side of the old Breton. The latter is busy with his mission as personal envoy of the Head of State to Lebanon to help build a political consensus. And when he is not on the plane to Beirut or Paris, Le Drian, 76, enjoys his (political) retirement in Brittany where he was able to resume cycling – his passion – while watching, not without curiosity, the debut of young Gabriel Attal at Matignon. Ride youth!
Le Pen – Dati: if I had known!
On June 10, 2020, in the home stretch of the municipal campaign, the declaration did not go unnoticed. On France Inter, Marine Le Pen says: “If the choice is between Madame Hidalgo and Madame Dati, personally if I were a voter in Paris, I would largely vote for Dati rather than Hidalgo.” Four years later, here is Rachida Dati, Emmanuel Macron’s Minister of Culture. “Scalded cat fears cold water!”, she said. The president of the RN group in the Assembly promises that she will not make the same mistake in the next municipal elections.
Mayotte: the forgetting of Attal
At the government seminar, on February 10, Gabriel Attal was to list to his ministers (finally all of them) “the priorities for the coming months”. Problem: the Prime Minister forgot more than one. The SNU has visibly disappeared from the list of emergencies, but it is especially Mayotte which has been skipped by the head of government. A tile as the Minister of the Interior Gérald Darmanin was to announce the next day the planned end of land rights on the island in the grip of an intense migration crisis. Fortunately, the new Minister for Overseas Territories, Marie Guévenoux, came to his aid to bring the subject up to date. “In terms of emergencies, it seems to me that we must mention Mayotte,” she told Gabriel Attal.
Macron: advice from Pierre Charon
It is no longer a secret that the President of the Republic and the first lady appreciate former senator LR Pierre Charon, as much for his talent as a storyteller as for his political sense. A few days before his press conference, Emmanuel Macron and the former Sarkozy leader discussed an essential subject late in the evening: the Paris-Lyon-Marseille law. Responsible for this issue when he was national secretary of the UMP, Charon has some good advice to give. Notably this one, which he slipped to the head of state: “We cannot make district mayors little dukes. Chirac called them “feathered hats”. We must remove the feathers from the hats! ” In short: put an end to a function which is more about representation than good management of the city.
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