What would politics be without its stunts, its low blows, its twisted blows, its dirty tricks…? Because, as Edouard Philippe would say, “we have to do things seriously without taking ourselves seriously”, the political service of L’Express offers to immerse you in the corridors of power thanks to a weekly meeting, every Thursday, on our website.
Peeps and more: rFind our political Newsletter every evening from Monday to Thursday at 9 p.m. in your mailbox. To register, it’s here.
Castex wants to take the pen
The former Prime Minister, during his two years at Matignon, took notes. To remember and, when the day comes, to testify. “One day, for the sake of reporting to my fellow citizens on the exercise of a charge which concerns the affairs of the country, I will have to tell about the management of the Covid, what I had to do or to live for two years,” he recently said privately. But on what horizon, that is the question. His agenda as RATP boss leaves him little respite… As for his political agenda – a detail – it is still unclear. Only one certainty: Jean Castex wishes to take up the pen himself.
Jacob’s advice to Macron
It is, among a thousand others, an anecdote which finds all its salt in the current period, and which relates Ludovic Vigogne in his fascinating book, The dayless (Books editions). The day after the second round of the legislative elections, in June 2022, Christian Jacob, then president of LR, was received by Emmanuel Macron. “I know that you just have to pick up your phone to have all the ministers you want. But, if you do, you will radicalize ours a little more”, slips this Chiraquian with long experience. At the end of the meeting, the head of state offers the one who is about to leave politics: “Call me if you need anything.”
The little message from Darmanin the seguinist
“He could have been the great president putting the man at the center of our system”: Gérald Darmanin took up the pen to pay a vibrant tribute to Philippe Séguin, in the issue of the Review of two worlds which is dedicated to the latter for the 80th anniversary of his birth. The Minister of the Interior takes the opportunity to issue this reminder: “To govern well, you have to ask the social question.” A good hearer… He also said it to deputies of the majority: “We must speak again to this France which earns between 1000 and 2000 euros per month.”
Redesign: change everything… except Borne?
The hypothesis of a government reshuffle takes shape as the political crisis drags on. Will stay ? Won’t stay? The fate of Elisabeth Borne is secondary for several elected representatives of the majority, who especially deplore the lack of visibility of certain ministers. “There are plenty of people to clear, notes a Renaissance leader. Whole sections of public policy are not embodied today, such as school, health or housing.” A presidential party executive confirms: “The change does not necessarily have to come from Borne but rather from the big ministers around who do not carry enough.”
Left-wing ministers not thrilled with Cazeneuve
Bernard Cazeneuve seems to be preparing his launch pad for 2027, with the aim of bringing together anti-Nupe socialists and social democrats of all stripes around him. But the former Prime Minister is not so excited about the members of the “Grenelle” group, these left-wing ministers who dine together from time to time to stick together. Some would also say for comfort. The last agape took place at the home of Secretary of State for Europe Laurence Boone, at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and one of the participants remembers an idea that was a consensus among the guests: “Overall, we don’t did not see in Cazeneuve the great future of social democracy. Only, who is? No answer…
