For her first candidacy in a municipal election, Valérie Pécresse wanted to spare the element of surprise. Three weeks before the first round, the president (ex-LR) of the Île-de-France region announced that she was in sixth position on the list of Pascal Thévenot, outgoing mayor of Vélizy-Villacoublay (Yvelines), a municipality of 22,000 inhabitants .
Read also: Valérie Pécresse at the time of confidences
Entitled “Landing off”, this list - supported by the center-right party UDI - allows the president to “Free!” to constitute a municipal fief ... In order to prepare for other battles? “What I will do in two years (in the presidential election in 2022) is political fiction. I will make my decisions at that time , ” she replies to the Parisian . In the columns of the daily newspaper, she assures that she would be only a “modest running mate and a basic municipal councilor” .
According to her, "a region president must have a local base as is the case for Laurent Wauquiez and Xavier Bertrand" , respectively presidents of Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes and Hauts-de-France, while occupying a seat of municipal councilor of Puy-en-Velay (Haute-Loire) and Saint-Quentin (Aisne). The town of Vélizy-Villacoublay, known for its air force air base, was not chosen at random by Valérie Pécresse: she was elected UMP deputy there in 2002, 2007 and 2012.
