Barely settled into her office in the magnificent Hôtel du Châtelet, rue de Grenelle, this Friday, January 12thexclaims Catherine Vautrin Jean Louis Borloo. In the Labor Minister’s chair, she thinks back to his words when he sat opposite her, his Foreign Minister, in the same seat in 2004. “Time is running out, you don’t have a second, you don’t know when it will end, you’ll regret not being fast enough anyway” he had warned him.
For Catherine Vautrin it should be even faster because there are so many files to manage. She was, by record, number three in government and inherited a ministry of immense size. Exaggerated, some will say: Minister for Labor, Health and Solidarity. Especially when we had to digest it alone for a month while waiting for the late appointment of two delegated ministers on Thursday 8 February, Frederic Valletouxresponsible for health, and Fadila Khattabi, responsible for older people and people with disabilities.
In May 2022, France discovers the name of the President of Greater Reims, former Secretary of State for Integration, then for the Elderly and Minister for Social Cohesion between 2004 and 2007. The President of the Republic, Emmanuel Macron, barely re-elected, sets his name He has the renegade of the Les Républicains (LR) party, who is set to become its third prime minister from the right, after Edouard Philippe and Jean Castex.
The former MP for Marne is received at the Elysée Palace, thinks about the composition of her government and calls her mother to tell her the good news. But in the end the head of state gives in to pressure from the historic Macronists, headwind against this right-wing woman whose positions are considered too conservative. Her opposition to marriage for all in 2013 is highlighted, and it’s a shame if she has since changed her mind on the issue and says she has had the pleasure of marrying couples of the same sex. Elisabeth Borne is preferred, with support fromAlexis Kohlerthe influential Secretary General of the Elysée.
Territorial anchoring
“His entry into government is not a catch-up process, but it is a decision that shows consistency.”, we know in the president’s entourage. A decision by Emmanuel Macron before that of his Prime Minister Gabriel Attal. A chance for the president to confirm his first intuition, even though the connection has never been broken since 2022. With this elected local official, the majority do not buy a brand, in contrast to Rachida Dati, Minister of Culture and former comrade of the UMP-LR years. In a Macronie accused of Parisism, Catherine Vautrin embodies territorial anchoring.
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