- Gérald Darmanin leaves his Ministry of Action and Public Accounts to take up his quarters at Place Beauvau.
- Rare "political" minister experienced alongside Emmanuel Macron despite his young age, he is rewarded for his patience.
- It is a "great honor for the grandson of an immigrant that I am, to be appointed Minister of the Interior of our beautiful country," he wrote on Twitter.
He is one of the promoted. Gérald Darmanin leaves his Ministry of Action and Public Accounts to take up his quarters at Place Beauvau. Thanks to the ministerial reshuffle announced on Monday, he joined the Castex I government as Minister of the Interior and replaced Christophe Castaner, who was among those leaving the government of Edouard Philippe.
Gérald Darmanin, elected mayor of Tourcoing in the first round and rare “political” minister experienced alongside Emmanuel Macron despite his young age, former lieutenant of Nicolas Sarkozy who became “slugger” in Bercy, is rewarded with his appointment at Place Beauvau.
The test of loyalty to Macron
Just after his election last March, the now former Minister of Public Accounts had said he wanted to "weigh more" on political choices and "continue to work" with the President of the Republic. An exit interpreted by some as an offer of services for Matignon, even if the interested party swore that he was a “loyal and faithful support” of Edouard Philippe.
The arrival of this ambitious 37-year-old Place Beauvau, replacing Christophe Castaner, rewards his reiterated support and his loyalty to the President of the Republic, after more than three years spent within Bercy. Before joining the "ocean liner", Gérald Darmanin was a novice in budgetary matters. However, he made his mark by having several laws passed, such as the right to make mistakes, or by setting up a brigade of tax officials with police powers.
Above all, he can claim to have put French taxation in tune with most of the major advanced countries by having income tax deducted directly from the payroll, despite the strong reluctance of Emmanuel Macron.
"I am sociologically on the left and culturally on the right": this is how the former spokesperson for Nicolas Sarkozy, who has passed with arms and luggage at En Marche, is defined! after the 2017 presidential election. A speech that finds its full place in the presidential creed of "at the same time", with which Gérald Darmanin - presented by many as the most "political" minister of the government - claims to be "very much in comfortable ”, dismissing the charges of“ political expediency ”.
Interior in the crosshairs
The Minister of the Interior, Gérald Darmanin had been eyeing it for a while. Coming from the right LR but joined Emmanuel Macron since 2017, the 30-year-old had already been approached at Beauvau in October 2018, after the resignation of Gérard Collomb. Close to Nicolas Sarkozy, who himself served as Minister of the Interior before being elected head of state in 2007, Gérald Darmanin does not hide his desire to be in turn the first police officer in France . Sarkozy breathes the idea into the ear of Emmanuel Macron, who will ultimately prefer to name Christophe Castaner. His patience is therefore rewarded.
It is a "great honor, for the grandson of an immigrant that I am, to be appointed Minister of the Interior of our beautiful country, rejoiced on Twitter the new Minister of the Interior a few moments after the announcement of his appointment. Thank you to Christophe Castaner who led a courageous and determined action in the service of the protection of our fellow citizens ”.
It is a great honor for the immigrant grandson that I am to be appointed Minister of the Interior of our beautiful country.
Thank you to Christophe Castaner who led a courageous and determined action in the service of the protection of our fellow citizens.
This grandson of an Algerian tirailleur, born in Valenciennes (Nord) to a father who owned a bar and a mother who was a cleaning lady at the Banque de France, has nevertheless experienced a sinuous ascent since joining the RPR at the age 16 years old. A graduate of Sciences Po Lille, Gérald Darmanin began his career as a collaborator of Christian Vanneste, excluded in 2012 from the UMP after remarks considered as homophobic, before joining Xavier Bertrand, then secretary general of the party.
Passed to the Secretary of State responsible for French nationals abroad and to that of Sports, he was then elected deputy for the North in 2012, then mayor of Tourcoing in 2014. It was alongside Nicolas Sarkozy, whom he becomes the spokesperson for the presidential race of the UMP, which he nevertheless points out, because of his positions in favor of the popular classes, which he defends on behalf of his modest origins.
Legal trouble
Coordinator of the campaign of Nicolas Sarkozy for the primary of the right in 2016, at the end of which the latter is swept in the first round, he ends up abandoning the campaign of François Fillon, in disagreement with the line of LR. When Emmanuel Macron won the presidential election in 2017, Gérald Darmanin noted the break with his former party by joining Edouard Philippe, with whom he was close, in government. A decision experienced as a “betrayal” on the right but that the person concerned is skeptical about.
Fifteen years after his mentor, Gérald Darmanin moved to Place Beauvau. But the mayor of Tourcoing was promoted to the government when justice ordered the resumption of investigations into a rape accusation targeting him in 2009. At the start of 2018, he was in fact accused by two women, one for rape, the other for abuse of weakness, in full swing #MeToo - accusations he refutes. If the investigation therefore continues for one of them, the prosecution has dismissed the second.
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Justice
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- Christophe Castaner
- Ministry of the Interior
- Gérald Darmanin
- Jean Castex
- Reshuffle