This second five-year term like no other is far from over, yet 2027 and its cohort of putative candidates are already moving forward. Behind the scenes, some learn to dodge trippers, others become familiar with the art of conspiracy, in short, everyone prepares post-Emmanuel Macron with rigor and determination. The political department of L’Express 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.
At the Elysée, we are free (to eat meat)!
Meatless Monday, common in the palaces of the Republic, will not pass through the Elysée. “Does the president know?” : it was Brigitte Macron herself who asked the question when the practice began to be introduced in the palace kitchens last year. The head (of state) has decided: food freedom will remain total on rue du Faubourg-Saint-Honoré.
Macron, Depardieu (and Mélenchon)… Anne Hidalgo “can’t take any more of these guys”
Very in good shape at the start of 2024, the year of the Olympic Games in Paris, Anne Hidalgo distributed the (political) slaps aimed at the new Prime Minister, Gabriel Attal, and even Olivier Faure’s PS. After a few strokes of the fork, she also gave her opinion on Emmanuel Macron ardently defending the actor Gérard Depardieu, indicted for sexual assault and rape. “There are no sacred monsters in Paris”, believes the mayor of Paris, who, with a great sigh of annoyance, torpedoes as she passes… Jean-Luc Mélenchon: “I can’t take any more of all these guys -there… I can no longer support this patriarchal way of doing politics.” The rebellious leader will appreciate being put in the same boat…
Nuñez’s hopes
“He is preparing his office in case…”: there is one who hoped that the great government upheaval would free Place Beauvau, his name is Laurent Nuñez. The Paris police prefect has already had government experience: Secretary of State to the Minister of the Interior Christophe Castaner, from 2018 to 2020. And not only has he taken a liking to it, but he now dreams of bigger things.
Macron: his first judgment on Attal
The day after the appointment of Gabriel Attal to Matignon, Emmanuel Macron congratulated himself during a telephone conversation with a political friend: “It’s a political coup, it gives muscle, energy, capacity to do”, rejoiced the president. Obvious advantage, according to him: the large “reset” government may be of lesser magnitude as his choice of Prime Minister demonstrates “audacity” on his part. A little humility never hurts.
Philippe, Attal and apnea
“Prepare yourself to be in complete apnea for months,” Edouard Philippe told Gabriel Attal after his appointment. The former Prime Minister, who pleaded for Elisabeth Borne to remain at Matignon at least until the European elections, put up a good fight against bad luck: “I have the impression that he has some breathing room.”
Darmanin: everything you need to know about the Quai
She definitely existed. The note provided to Gérald Darmanin, recently cited by Politico, on the advantages of the position of Minister of Foreign Affairs and the functioning of the Quai d’Orsay, was written in 2022 by Louis-Xavier Thirode, his friend and advisor at the time at the Ministry of the Interior. The enarque, now delegated prefect of the Hauts-de-France region, is married to a career diplomat; he was also stationed at the French embassy in Algiers from 2008 to 2011. The document was also reread and amended by his superior at the time, Ambassador Xavier Driencourt, an excellent connoisseur of the Quai d’Orsay, since he was the inspector general of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs from 2012 to 2017.
Prisca Thevenot or bad education
Prisca Thevenot, tipped to be the new government spokesperson, is not always very talkative. On the verge of being appointed Secretary of State in charge of Universal National Service, on July 20, 2023, she did not call the one who was going to be (with that of Education) one of her two supervisory ministers, Sébastien Lecornu – neither before the announcement nor after. The Minister of the Armed Forces had been informed at the last minute of this choice. This is how the changes are made!
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