Re-elected mayor of Tourcoing, Gérald Darmanin will also remain in government. - Michel Euler / AP / SIPA

The Minister of Public Accounts Action Gérald Darmanin was elected this Saturday morning mayor of Tourcoing (North) by the city's municipal council, held behind closed doors but broadcast on social networks.

Gérald Darmanin, 37, who finds a seat occupied between 2014 and 2017, intends to combine the two functions, thereby freeing himself from the unwritten rule, in force since 1997, which states that a minister cannot be at the head of a local executive.

This Saturday, in the 30,000 municipalities where a single turn will have sufficed, the municipal councils take office this Saturday to elect the mayors and assistants.

A reversal of the majority

The minister won on March 15, at the start of the coronavirus crisis, with 60.9% of the vote. According to our colleagues from Europe 1, the new councilor met Emmanuel Macron ten days ago who "authorized him to remain minister at least for a time". Gérald Darmanin will therefore combine the two functions, but without being paid for his post as mayor, he also indicated.

It is not the first time that it has been in this situation. In September 2017, he had left his post as mayor of Tourcoing when the president appointed him head of the Budget, because "when you are a minister, you cannot cumulate with the head of an executive", had quipped Edouard Philippe to members of the government.

Today, it seems that the majority make an exception. But will it continue until the end of the five-year term?

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  • Municipal
  • Government
  • Gérald Darmanin
  • Tourcoing