Former Prime Minister Édouard Philippe was reelected without surprise mayor of Le Havre on Sunday morning by 47 votes out of 59 during the first session of the new municipal council, AFP journalists found.
During the second round of municipal elections, last Sunday, the list led by Édouard Philippe won with 58.93% of the vote in this port city of 170,000 inhabitants of which he was already mayor from 2010 to 2017. This election was marked , as in many cities, by a high abstention rate of 58%.
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The new mayor was acclaimed by the members of the council as well as by the public present in the room, among which was the Minister of Action and Public Accounts, Gérald Darmanin, himself re-elected mayor of his city of Tourcoing on 23 last May. The new councilor of Le Havre first observed a minute of silence in memory of two political figures from the region, who have disappeared in recent months.
A "relief" for Édouard Philippe
Before delivering his first speech, Édouard Philippe wanted all the assistants to be appointed. The former head of government appeared calm and happy. If there is a "relief" for Edouard Philippe, it is a "physical relief, more than a relief of the spirit: three years at the bottom, it is exhausting", commented his friend, the MEP Gilles Boyer, who came to "attend this beautiful moment".