The NFP candidate for Prime Minister will be received with the leaders of the parties and parliamentary groups at the Elysée Palace on Friday, August 23. Lucie Castets continues to try to convince outside the paths of the left.
Candidate of the New Popular Front (NFP) for the post of Prime Minister, Lucie Castets will take part in the discussions between Emmanuel Macron and the political forces on the future government. The 37-year-old senior civil servant was invited to the Elysée, at the same time as the NFP, to the meeting on Friday, August 23, which could be decisive before the appointment of the future Prime Minister.
Although Lucie Castets is not the representative of any party or group in the National Assembly, she will be present with the presidents of the NFP group, at the Elysée, at their request, reaffirming the left-wing coalition’s wish to access Matignon. A presence “imposed by the minority coalition of the NFP” according to the president of the RN group in the National Assembly, Marine Le Pen, who speaks of “a decision that is akin to a coup de force”. In the entourage ofEmmanuel Macronon the contrary, it is indicated that he “does not oppose it if it is a collective request and if the political forces of the NFP consider that it is useful for the exchange to be constructive”. However, the President of the Republic has already firmly indicated that she would not be appointed Prime Minister, like any other personality with the ambition of taking the head of a left-wing government.
Very involved since July 23, the date on which the New Popular Front designated her as its candidate for the post of Prime Minister, Lucie Castets has multiplied statements in the media as well as trips in France to make herself known to the general public and reaffirm the government project of the NFP. The day after the Olympic Games, she even sent a letter to parliamentarians, with the exception of those from the far right, explaining that she wanted to “convince beyond the ranks of the NFP to build parliamentary majorities.”
Similarities with the Socialist Party
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.
The economist describes herself as a left-wing activist, but assures that she represents “no tendency” or party leadership within the New Popular Front, contenting herself with wanting to implement the common program of the union of the left. The fact remains that it was the PS, to which she was close, that put her name on the table less than 24 hours before the announcement of her nomination. “I am not an activist in a party, I am left-wing, I am committed, I have no particular label within these parties. That is why, I believe, they nominated me,” she justified herself, Thursday July 25 on BFMTV.
“We are aware that there is no absolute majority”
To form a hypothetical government, since the NFP has not given up despite Emmanuel Macron’s hostility, Lucie Castets has not closed the door to profiles from civil society.“We will need ministers who are fully in agreement with the political orientations, those of the NFP program,” she confided to BFMTV. “The other question is parliamentary work. There, we are aware that there is no absolute majority. The question will be to find, project by project, a way to govern, on that I am confident. There are a lot of deputies, beyond the NFP who are convinced by the fact that we must restore public services and repeal the pension reform,” she continued. But for the moment, the dynamic has not yet really started for the ENA graduate. According to an Elabe poll for BFMTV published on Thursday, July 25, 58% of French people believe that the president should not appoint Lucie Castets to Matignon. “48 hours ago, I was completely unknown to the French. Today, 41% of French people say that Emmanuel Macron should appoint me Prime Minister,” she retorts.
Taxation, city of Paris… Who is Lucie Castets?
Norman from Caen, 37-year-old economist, now director of finance and purchasing for the city of Paris. Lucie Castets 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 ‘Nos Services publics’. 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, (…) schools, hospitals, social justice”.