Palace of Versailles in wallpaper and embroidered umbrella stored on the side.
It's a Tuesday like any other at the National Rally.
The deputies settle down for their traditional group meeting.
But, this time, some newcomers, who denote the "house profile", arouse questioning looks.
Young collaborators, "
with extended particle names
", some laugh, and "
with conservative accents
", others laugh, most of whom are from Versailles.
In the Assembly, the "
traditional Catholics
"-as they are called at the RN -, against whom Marine Le Pen waged war for years, are back.
Albane Duteurtre, Deputy Secretary General, Jean-Etienne Dubin Mouchotte, for the Foreign Affairs Committee, David Delorme Monsarrat, for the Cultural Affairs and Education Committee... There are a handful of them, from the same networks, and linked, for some , to the traditionalist Society of Saint Pius X.
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The early sailors thought they were done with them.
A few years ago, the internal rise of the daughter of Jean-Marie Le Pen and of her claimed “
more modern
” line, caused the departure of many historical executives, classified in this movement by the young guard.
"
But these people have been doing it to us for thirty years
," rages a relative of the MP for Pas-de-Calais.
We drive them out the door, they come back through the window.
And the window, in this case, has a name: it is Renaud Labaye.
The general secretary of the group at the Assembly is the one who recruited the newcomers to collaborate with the group.
"
It's not even the Christian Democratic Party anymore, it's downright Opus Dei
"
Profiles that are not unanimous internally.
"
It's not even the Christian Democratic Party anymore, it's downright Opus Dei
", chokes an elected official, reluctant to welcome the newcomers he would rather see at Éric Zemmour.
Proponents of a so-called modern line on societal issues are worried about the proliferation of the small group, and their influence which could grow in the months to come on these subjects.
“
I have known about the lobbying of conservative circles for years
, comments Bruno Bilde, elected in the North.
In the end, it is the deputies who decide and not their assistants, if we reverse the roles, it will necessarily go wrong
.
others,
They scare me, because they advance masked.
They know, for the moment, that they are not in force, but they advance their pawns in a very organized way
.
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Only, even if it wanted to, it would be impossible for the flame party to do without its collaborators.
Following the elective wave in June, the RN had to face a shortage of human resources.
And these newcomers, with well-stocked CVs and holders of diplomas, correspond to the serious profiles which the apparatus, in search of professionalization, desperately needs.
“
This line is clearly not mine
, agrees the deputy of the Alpes Maritimes Alexandra Masson.
But they are competent, smiling, active and present, and I consider that to be the most important thing.
»
“
At the RN we claim the strength of different profiles
”
Whatever.
The most recalcitrant denounce a discrepancy between the line carried by this small group and the whims of the Frontist electorate.
“
This conservative right is not the choice made by the French in the first round of the presidential election, with the modern line of Marine Le Pen
, warns an elected official.
We have to be careful what our movement looks like to our constituents
.”
Problem: if they do not correspond to the original marinist line, the young collaborators have nevertheless been dubbed by the leader, who has validated the choices of Renaud Labaye.
“I
I am very vigilant about the line and the measures presented, and I believe that all the collaborators, group and deputy, have understood that the only political line was that of Marine Le Pen, and the program that of the presidential
election, "says the latter at
Le Figaro
.
When it comes to human resources, Marine Le Pen never gives in to the choice of simplicity.
So, those closest to him accommodate his decisions, even if they do not correspond to their convictions.
Sébastien Chenu or Jean-Philippe Tanguy, of which it is however not the cup of tea, therefore validate the profiles of young collaborators.
“
At the RN, we claim the strength of different profiles,
adds Alexandra Masson.
Well here we are: of the 89 elected officials and collaborators, we have profiles that could not be more different
.
Others, more stoic, draw another lesson from this episode: “
It is finally the culmination of our normalization.
We become a party like the others, with our chapels and our internal rivalries
.