A fine observer of French political life and a regular contributor to FigaroVox, Maxime Tandonnet notably published André Tardieu. The misunderstood (Perrin, 2019) and
Georges Bidault: from the Resistance to French Algeria
(Perrin, 2022).
The appointment of Elisabeth Borne to Matignon reminds many commentators of French political life of that of Edith Cresson, the first woman Prime Minister in 1991. However, the circumstances are radically different.
The appointment of Edith Cresson, a leading political figure, very close to President Mitterrand, was hailed as a real event.
“
La dame de France
” hailed the national press, which sometimes compared her to a new “
Jeanne d'Arc
” while a British newspaper described her as “
Edith the first
”.
Read alsoBenjamin Morel: “Élisabeth Borne is a default choice”
This euphoria was followed, shortly after, by a veritable lynching, without historical precedent, of a head of government.
The right began to nickname her "
the Pompadour
", her competitors on the left despised her and openly denigrated her by calling her an idiot.
The
Baby Show
satirical program which preceded the 20h of TF1, ridiculed it each evening with accents of pure misogyny under the features of “Amabote”, the lascivious and obsequious panther.
In fact, Edith Cresson, renowned for her explosive outspokenness – at the origin of serious controversies over the “English” or the Japanese – embodied a voluntarist image of politics, hostile for example to the socialist project of the 35 hours or even inflexible on the fight against illegal immigration, which earned him the ire of anti-racist associations.
Notwithstanding numerous comments, the accession of Elisabeth Borne in no way gives rise to an outbreak of hateful sexism comparable to that experienced by Edith Cresson.
Times have changed (in this respect thankfully).
The mixed composition of governments, for twenty years, has trivialized the accession of women to the most strategic positions, in particular the Interior, Justice, the Quai d'Orsay or Defense.
A major political party, the Republicans, nominated a woman last December as its presidential candidate, with – at the time – presumed serious chances of reaching the Élysée.
The accession to Matignon of a Prime Minister, long close to the Socialist Party, breaks with this balance often caricatured by the formula "at the same time".
Maxime Tandonnet
But above all, the personality of Ms. Borne is the opposite of that of Edith Cresson.
She was known for her feisty, rebellious and uncontrollable temperament.
This one gives (a priori) an image of a technician, a file woman, rather discreet and disciplined.
Thus, while the appointment of Edith Cresson was the source of indescribable political chaos, leading to her ousting nine months later and François Mitterrand's fatal fall into unpopularity, which prepared for the return of the right a few months later later (Balladur government in 1993), nothing today suggests such an explosive scenario which would be directly linked, as in 1991, to the personality of the new head of government.
However, this appointment may, from another angle, have serious consequences for French politics.
At the end of his re-election, the Head of State announced “A new mandate”.
This appointment of Ms. Borne at Matignon indeed significantly changes the political situation of Emmanuel Macron's presidency.
Indeed, it de facto amounts to denying its “neither right nor left” dimension.
We remember.
At the end of the 2017 presidential election, the appointment of Édouard Philippe (member of LR) was considered emblematic of overcoming the right-left divide.
The President of the Republic took great care, in 2020, to give him a successor on the same side with Jean Castex.
The appointment of a Prime Minister from the said right, in compensation for a President of the Republic from the Socialist Party, was thus an essential marker of Emmanuel Macron's first term.
A strong signal was sent in the direction of right-wing opinion called upon to rally to his presidency: with some success.
This volte-face could, under certain conditions, open up new perspectives for the right of government.
Maxime Tandonnet
The accession to Matignon of a Prime Minister, long close to the Socialist Party, breaks with this balance often caricatured by the formula "at the same time".
Admittedly, ministers labeled on the right will obtain important portfolios (like the Sarkozyist "opening" of 2007), but the logic of the right-left transcleavage tandem at the head of the state, with obvious symbolic significance, is now abandoned.
The most likely reason for this turn is that Emmanuel Macron, who will not be able to run for a third term, no longer needs to seduce part of the right-wing electorate as much to prepare for his future.
This volte-face could, under certain conditions, open up new perspectives for the right of government.
Part of the conservative electorate having voted Emmanuel Macron in 2022 by legitimist reflex and search for a protector, in the tormented context of two years of Covid and the war in Ukraine, betting on a reconversion to the right of the occupant of the Élysée, will not fail to be shaken by this appointment.
Such a reversal was not expected or announced before the presidential election.
After five years of "neither right nor left", the arrival of Ms. Borne at Matignon brings about a clarification which goes in the direction of the themes put forward by Macron's power, in particular the "climate challenge" rather than the questions sovereign rights of security or immigration or even financial balances.
The reformist image of the Prime Minister on the social level (status of railway workers, unemployment insurance), places her in the continuity of a so-called "modern" or "liberal" left in accordance with the El Khomri laws under the Hollande presidency, but n takes nothing away from his emblematic personality label, like President Macron, from the Socialist Party.
The right therefore has a window, albeit narrow, to return to the fore, thanks to this beginning of a return to the right-left divide.
The arrival of Ms. Borne at Matignon brings about a clarification which goes in the direction of the themes put forward by Macron's power, in particular the "climate challenge" rather than the sovereign issues of security or immigration.
Maxime Tandonnet
France is undoubtedly heading towards an extremely violent financial, economic, social and political crisis.
Will the right of government be there to take over in due time?
In fact, it will only recover at the cost of a profound intellectual revolution.
The wars of the leaders of the past, the scandals like the recent betrayals, have seriously tarnished its image.
The top priority for her is to regain
popular trust
, by an attitude that combines the spirit of unity, personal disinterestedness, attachment to the public good and the general interest, to the discourse of truth - against demagoguery -, to the rehabilitation of democracy in all its forms (parliamentary, referendum, proximity) and intangible respect for the sovereign people – in contrast to the logic of contempt that characterizes the current ruling elites.
She will have to convince of her determination to put politics back at the service of the nation.
In the short term, it depends on its results in the legislative elections and in the longer term, on the preparation for the distant deadline of 2027. We will either have the return of a right reconciled with the country, or the sinking of France in absolute chaos.
