"Ok, is it good for everyone?" Above all, we ring in people's homes. And if you are offered a coffee, never refuse! Supports Gérald Darmanin. A few minutes from a vast door-to-door operation in the streets of Tourcoing (North), the minister-candidate enjoins the final recommendations to his troops. Thirty volunteers in the starting blocks, piled up Saturday afternoon in the campaign headquarters rented in the city center, and recognizable by their blue raincoats, flanked in the back of the slogan "With Gérald Darmanin, the choice of Tourcoing!" ".
After weeks of false suspense around his candidacy, the Minister of Action and Public Accounts therefore ended up embarking on municipal elections. He will head the list, as in 2014 when he was first elected mayor in this former socialist stronghold of 100,000 inhabitants. Before leaving the keys in September 2017, lack of being able to combine with his new government responsibilities. But even today, when the locals meet the one who is now the first deputy, it is still "Mr. Mayor", sometimes "Gérald". "And almost never, Minister. Here, I am the child of the country, "he believes it is worth clarifying, crossing the weekly market earlier in the day.
He distributes his number to the inhabitants
Not a meter without being approached. Like this young digital entrepreneur who calls out to him for a boost. "Do you have my contact details?" Asks Darmanin. "Yes ... I have your email," replied the gentleman bluntly. "Wait, I'll give you my cell phone. It's simpler, "bounces the minister ... by dictating aloud the 06 of his personal phone. Same scene a few moments later, when a lady asked him for a social housing problem. Surprising. "I do it all the time. It doesn't bother me, ”blows the man who explains receiving in return a hundred texts per week, to which he swears to respond to all.
His phone even became a real municipal command post. Thanks to several contact groups created on Telegram encrypted messaging, he brings each problem to the attention of his colleagues, elected officials and city officials. As when he passes in the morning in front of a patch of grass where dozens of waste are scattered at the foot of the dwellings.
"I don't like that," he annoys, taking a photo of the rubbish that he instantly sends to the director of cleanliness. Answer a minute later by the interested party by text: “We are doing the cleaning this afternoon. "There you go," bounces Gérald Darmanin, with his satisfied little air. Thanks to this system, I solve a lot of problems online. Even when I'm in Paris or abroad. It is formidable. "
"It's normal to see people, to be among them"
And enough to be re-elected in six weeks? Facing him, the ex-LR will still have a lot to do, with a list of the National Rally, three from the far left and a socialist. “Politicians are too often criticized for being disconnected. If I hadn't represented myself, I would have been told: oh, he's doing his Parisian! , he snorts. And then it's just normal to see people, to be among them. Otherwise, you pass a competition to become a minister and we no longer live in a democracy. "
As for the upheavals of national politics, he swears not to undergo them on the ground: “In our city people are less and less politicized. They only talk about the local. Even if a few minutes later, a lady teases him when crossing the street. "Ah, it's On!" But by walking, you trample on everyone, ”she grumbles. He smiles, not really surprised. "She is a sympathizer of rebellious France ...", specifies the one who also promises to become mayor again if he is re-elected. Even if it means letting go of the gold of his ministry? Darmanin kicks in touch: "It is the president who will decide ..."
