With the appointment of Michel Barnier as Prime Minister on Thursday 5 September, the Les Républicains (LR) party is taking up in its own way the phrase of Jesus in the Gospel according to Saint Matthew: “So the last will be first, and the first will be last.”
The fifth political force after the last legislative elections, the Right came out on top in Matignon, despite only having 47 deputies. The Left cries out about a democratic theft, and LR welcomes this unexpected return to the rue de Varennes. “This is good news for France and for the right, says Antoine Vermorel-Marques, a member of parliament for the Loire region. For us, it is an opportunity to show that we can once again occupy a political space, twelve years after leaving Matignon. »
In 2012, the 31-year-old elected official was old enough to vote and had not yet met his future political mentor, Michel Barnier. Antoine Vermorel-Marques was one of the first to congratulate him in person. On the right, people readily picked up the phone on Thursday to praise the new prime minister or post an enthusiastic message on X. “He is a man of great quality who has all the assets to succeed in this difficult mission that has been entrusted to him”writes the leader of the Republican Right (RD) deputies, Laurent Wauquiez.
Without court or enemy
The same comment, addressed to Xavier Bertrand, Matignon’s favourite the day before, would have seemed more forced, since the two men have a mutual dislike. None of this with Barnier, a 73-year-old sage with no court or enemy around him on the right, and this regardless of the changes in the name and acronyms of the party (UDR, RPR, UMP and LR). Laurent Wauquiez is in favour of seeing Michel Barnier occupy Matignon, having finally accepted a possible appointment of Xavier Bertrand, on Tuesday, during a telephone conversation with the President of the Republic, Emmanuel Macron.
Initially reluctant to accept Xavier Bertrand’s option, Bruno Retailleau, head of the LR senators, also ended up endorsing this option. He even spoke on Tuesday evening with the president of Hauts-de-France to discuss the “legislative pact” imagined by the parliamentary right after the legislative elections. This series of proposals was intended to give a constructive attitude to the “no” vote that was opposed in advance to any alliance between the right and the presidential camp.
At the time, Olivier Marleix surprised everyone when this avowed anti-Macronist asked “President Macron to appoint a prime minister from among the Republicans.” Among the few elected officials of LR who advocated in this direction was the senator for Paris, Marie-Claire Carrère-Gée: “Only LR can now claim Matignon and form the axis of a broader majority”said former campaign manager Michel Barnier during the 2021 primaries.
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