Paris (AFP)

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" from Bercy, is rewarded with his appointment to the ministry of the Interior.

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 to replace Christophe Castaner rewards his reiterated support for 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 passed with arms and luggage at En Marche after the presidential election of 2017, defines himself.

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 comfortable", rejecting accusations of "political expediency".

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, of whom he became spokesperson for the race for the presidency of the UMP, that he stood out, however, because of his positions in favor of the popular classes, which he defends in the name 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, Mr. Darmanin noted the break with his former party by joining Edouard Philippe, of whom he is close, to the government. A decision experienced as a "betrayal" on the right but that the interested party assumes bluntly.

At the Medef summer school last year, he warned against "those who demand more liberalism" and take the risk of an "Italian situation, of a fractured country".

He "perfectly decoded the En Marche software" and made himself the champion of a presidential program learned "by heart", abounds a deputy of the majority.

But Gérald Darmanin was promoted to the government when the justice system ordered the resumption of investigations into an accusation of rape targeting him in 2009.

In early 2018, he was indeed 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.

© 2020 AFP