“I’m no longer active,” he swears mechanically, without worrying too much about being convincing. Since his defeat in the legislative elections a year ago, Richard Ferrand has somewhat eroded his main argument to defend himself from all influence and all ambition. Are we really inactive when we regularly have lunch with members of the government? When one remains one of the few to take a look at the latest versions of the president’s televised speeches, as was still the case on April 17? Or when we interfere in bickering at the top of the state? Hold, last December, during the thorny negotiations between the executive, the unions and Les Républicains on the pension reform: Richard Ferrand understands that Matignon pounded in the newspapers the qualities of mediator of the Minister of Labor Olivier Dussopt, reassembled like a cuckoo . Alert, storm warning. Someone has to devote themselves to putting Emmanuel Macron on the scent of the small, very unwelcome, crocs-en-jambe part that is brewing behind the scenes… Who better than Richard Ferrand to put together this “pig trick”, as he whispered to one of his friends, to the ears of the big boss so that he could settle the conflict? At this stage, we are closer to micromanagement than to a simple watchdog role.
Right arm, left ear, whisperer and sometimes hoaxer, “Saint-Pierre” – according to the sweet nickname given by the president of the macronist group in the Senate François Patriat – sees, a little more each day, lengthening the list of comrades who would see him replacing Elisabeth Borne. It’s not him who says it, but the number of encouraging text messages he receives on his phone. “We are not campaigning for Matignon”, he likes to repeat: never mind, others are campaigning for him, whether they are deputies, ministers, or former Elysee. A small ecosystem is being organized. Some are counting at all costs to prevent the right from becoming the leader of the majority again; others believe that the former President of the National Assembly, experienced and respected, is the most appropriate to speak the same language as the oppositions. In this regard, does Richard Ferrand not consider that, in this context of relative majority, the Prime Minister has become “a super Minister for Relations with Parliament”?
“I will be Emmanuel Macron’s Bernard Cazeneuve!”
Before becoming the head of government and of the majority, even before treading the cobblestones of the courtyard of honor at 57 rue de Varenne, the tenant of Matignon is first and always a signal sent by the president. To the troops. To opposition. To the commentators. Edouard Philippe was the symbol of the opening on the right, Jean Castex, the voice of the “territories”, Elisabeth Borne, the feminine face of a rebalancing on the left… So, what would Prime Minister Richard Ferrand be the name of? Undoubtedly comfort, extreme fidelity and, at the end of the end, the withdrawal of Emmanuel Macron on his first circle, his last square. In short, a safe haven. Nothing that would not evoke, in any case, the dawn of a new era full of audacity and risk-taking. “Not at all, he would be in the blueprint of what macronism is, retorts a minister close to the ex-president of the Assembly, who is suspected of playing a bit on words. he writes that the president absolutely had to take a Prime Minister from the LR? What would we gain? Turn completely to the right, turn into a kind of new UMP, it was not so much our vocation or what we had come to pick up at the start.”
History has shown that it was at the twilight of their second term that presidents drew on their close guard to accompany their last steps at the Elysée: it is probably no coincidence that the adopted Breton repeats at the I want him to imagine himself willingly “turning off the light” in 2027 after having helped to turn it on ten years earlier. “I will be Emmanuel Macron’s Bernard Cazeneuve!” he recently guffawed in front of one of his amused interlocutors.
To those who titillate and flatter him, give him reasons to hope and arguments to prepare, Richard Ferrand opposes the substance of his thoughts. Firstly, he is not convinced of the “imperative need to replace” the Prime Minister, whose courage and tenacity he praises: listening to him, no one can boast today of being able to give a larger majority to the head of state. Including him. Secondly, he says he is convinced that Emmanuel Macron will not choose a relative among the relatives. “It’s not even desirable”, we have already heard him whisper… and this also applies to the former Minister of Agriculture Julien Denormandie, the other favorite of the historic Macronie canal.
However, he knows it: Emmanuel Macron likes nothing less than the obvious, and there are countless times when the president has taken his apostles on the wrong foot. The spirit of the times is definitely political animals, Richard Ferrand would be wrong to insult the future. Precisely, he takes care to give him a chance: “You should never say ‘never’, it’s the best way to pass for a fool”, he answers to those who test his desires. A faithful of Emmanuel Macron, who knows his Finistère inside out and with whom he had a long conversation on the phone not long ago, is certain that “Saint-Pierre” is more interested in the position than he does. suggests: “He is very happy in his new life, but if the president ever calls him, he will have a hard time saying no.” He wants proof of this in a short sentence dropped by Ferrand, which still leaves a few butterflies in his stomach: “It will really take very good arguments to convince me, but it is not completely ruled out.”