Municipal 2020: who are the ministers still in the running?

Little reminder of the previous electoral episode. On March 15, they were ten members of the government in the starting blocks of the municipal elections, encouraged by an Emmanuel Macron convinced that the executive had to be confronted more on the ground to gain greater legitimacy.  

Among the ministers elected in the first round, are the Minister of Culture, Franck Riester, comfortably re-elected in his commune of Coulommiers, in Seine-et-Marne, just like Gérald Darmanin, Minister of Action and Public Accounts, in his stronghold of Tourcoing, in the North. 

>> To read: Municipales 2020: the big French cities ready to go green?

Secretary of State Geneviève Darrieussecq (Armies) and Ministers Marc Fesneau (Parliament) and Sébastien Lecornu (Cohesion of the Territories) were elected as municipal councilors in Mont-de-Marsan (Landes), Marchenoir (Loir-et -Cher) and Vernon (Eure). Only Jean-Baptiste Djebbari, Secretary of State for Transport, was ousted from the first round in Limoges. The former airline pilot was in eighth position on an opposition list marked LREM.  

Le Havre in the spotlight 

Three months and confinement later, there are only four ministers or secretaries of state to be still engaged in the second round of municipal elections: Marlène Schiappa, Agnès Pannier-Runacher in Paris and Gabriel Attal in Vanves. But it is towards Le Havre, where the head of government Édouard Philippe is in favorable ballot, that all eyes are turned.  

"Next Sunday, the people of Le Havre have a simple choice between two projects: we have transformed Le Havre, I think in a good way. The choice is to know whether we are part of this dynamic or whether we are giving the keys to a Communist deputy . " # Philippe2020

Some predicted he would be elected in the first round, but with 43.89% of the vote, the Prime Minister still has to fight if he wants to beat the communist Jean-Paul Lecoq and keep his chair as mayor. No great suspense in prospect: an Ifop-Fiducial poll carried out on June 11 for the daily Paris Normandie and Sud Radio gave him the winner with 53% of the votes. Proof that the health crisis has not started its popularity. "The only thing that matters is not predictions, projections, polls, but next Sunday, the vote. The rest is speculation," said the tenant of Matignon. 

Municipal, "a drop point" in case of reshuffle 

There remains the question of its maintenance in Matignon after the election. In the event of a victory at the municipal level, Édouard Philippe will be ordered to choose between the chair of the mayor and that of the Prime Minister, but will not be able to keep both as the tacit rule requires. If elected, he has already warned that he would favor his position as head of government than that of mayor of Le Havre. Unless Emmanuel Macron decides to change Prime Minister. 

"I intend to become mayor once I am no longer Prime Minister." @EPhilippePM will stay in Matignon if he is elected to #municipales ... but evokes an early return to Le Havre https://t.co/mAXA7ZyY7X

Could the verdict of the ballot boxes then precipitate him towards the exit door of the government? No, assures France 24 Christian Delporte, professor at the University of Versailles and specialist in politics. "A local election has little effect on the composition of a government. The president will only separate from him if he wishes, whatever the final result. On the other hand, the municipal election constitutes a point of fall for Edouard Philippe in the event of a reshuffle which will guarantee him his political future in the years to come. "  

Waterfall defeats

Not sure that Marlène Schiappa can however count on a municipal fate for this election. Placed in second position on the list of Eric Azière, running mate of Agnès Buzyn in the 14th district of Paris, the secretary of state in charge of Equality between women and men did not collect 15.67% in the first turn, far behind Carine Petit (PS), who obtained 32.86% of the votes. 

The rue de la Gaîté comes back to life!
Theaters, restaurants, terraces, cinemas ... and the pleasure of meeting Parisians to discuss the deconfinement and the second round of #municipales in #Paris:
Meeting this Sunday to vote @AziereEric in the 14th! pic.twitter.com/cHi0AQ1t36

But the member of the government never had any municipal ambition. "Besides, she did not place herself at the top of the list, adds Christian Delporte. And then, she came out of the woods late, proof that she had no electoral ambition. Marlène Schiappa went to coal in service ordered by the Élysée. This is more of a posture. But after the election, it will be able to highlight this experience in the field, an essential asset for pursuing a political career. " 

Unfavorable tossing also for Agnès Pannier-Runacher. The Secretary of State to the Ministry of Economy and Finance, candidate on the LREM list of the 16th arrondissement of Paris, came far behind her opponent Les Républicain Francis Szpiner, with 23.56% against 47.81%. 

After months of campaigning to meet Parisians, the last Sunday of mobilization with the team from the 16th Porte de Saint Cloud and in Passy. Next Sunday, choose the list of presidential majority @enmarchefr! # Paris16 @agnesbuzyn @AgnesRunacher pic.twitter.com/vqTwgfs438

Municipal, "a failure for LREM"

The business is also badly embarked for Gabriel Attal, current municipal councilor of Vanves, in Parisian suburbs, and placed in second position on the list of Séverine Edou with 23.07%, vis-a-vis the outgoing mayor Bernard Gauducheau (UDI) arrived at the head of the first round with 47.23%. They will also have to deal with a third list, environmentalist, "Vanves Tomorrow" which collected 22.32% of votes. 

All these unhappy candidates "do not pretend to bring a municipality back into the fold of LREM", assures Christian Delporte. But the local implantation of the presidential party is so weak that they are not in winning town halls, but seats of councilors ". And to conclude," even if the municipal elections are a failure for LREM, it there is no reason to draw any conclusions from it for the future electoral deadline of 2022 ".  

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