Le
Figaro Lyon
Bis repeated.
After 2020 and the second round agreement - loser - between Gérard Collomb and Étienne Blanc, pushed by Laurent Wauquiez, the elected representatives of the right and the center of Lyon are already planning to play the return match in 2026. It is Yann Cucherat, heir appointed by the former mayor of Lyon who, interviewed by BFM Lyon last week, pleaded for a "
joint project
" bringing together as widely as possible.
“
If any agreement is premature, I think that on the project and the motivations, we all agree that we must give another trajectory to this city.
And that can be done with one side of the Lyon right but also part of the center left, or even with certain socialists
, ”confides to
Figaro Lyon
Yann Cucherat.
An opinion shared by Pierre Oliver, an emerging figure on the Lyon right since the return of Étienne Blanc, who became a senator in 2020. “
I really hope that we will be able to do it.
I have always been a union activist.
And the ideal is to be together from the first round to make an impression
, ”rejoices the mayor of the 2nd arrondissement of Lyon.
David Kimelfeld, the former president of the metropolis, former first federal secretary of the Socialist Party in the Rhône department and dissident LREM candidate in 2020, is also ready to make this union.
But not necessarily to the Republicans.
“
Of course, I believe that Yann is right to seek to bring people together as widely as possible.
But should this agreement go as far as LR?
I don't know
“, he asks.
The former right-hand man of Gérard Collomb says however "
to have a lot of respect
", for Pierre Olivier with whom he "
shares common positions
": "
But that does not make either a common program or an alliance
".
ghosts of the past
In 2020, the lists of the three elected municipal officials had respectively received 17.01% (LR), 14.92% (LREM), 11.98% (dissident LREM) of the votes.
Either combined fifteen points more than that carried by Grégory Doucet (28.46% EELV).
Enough to hope for a fruitful collaboration for 2026 with these allies of circumstance.
It will however be necessary to pass over the past resentments on the side of the groups of Yann Cucherat and David Kimelfeld, whose trajectories had separated during the return of Gérard Collomb to Lyon after his ephemeral stay at the Ministry of the Interior.
Since then, the second assures “
that the links have normalized
”.
“
We discuss, we work together and sometimes we act on our disagreements.
That Yann speaks publicly of union is also a good sign
, ”assures the former president of the metropolis.
Yet in off, some elected "Columbians" express their doubts about the possibility of a union between those who led Lyon for 20 years.
"
I find it very difficult to imagine a few elected members of the Collomb group working again with David Kimelfeld after what happened between 2018 and 2020. If Yann is likely to bring appeasement, others are incapable of it, ”confides
the 'One. Two.
"
The center lives what the right lived in 2001. For 20 years we have never managed to recover from these divisions and these hatreds which have crossed the generations
", analyzes his side Pierre Oliver.
Former high-level gymnast, double world medalist and double European gold medalist, Yann Cucherat assumes the role
of “the one who tries to reconcile and reunite
”.
“
Some things have overwhelmed me, but I consider today that if we want to return to this city, it can only go through a large rally.
This is what Gérard Collomb, who governed with the Communists and the right, has always done.
I am from that school
, ”he professes.
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Top of the list
In this political triptych, it remains to be determined which corner will take the lead in the triangle.
Already on the right, we are pushing for the young wolf Pierre Oliver, quickly taken under his wing by the former mayor from 2020, and who has traveled the city several times with him since.
“
In Lyon today who is able to create another path?
Pierre Oliver seems to be the only one, due to his work in the field and the proposals he makes.
The first opinion poll shows that its notoriety is at 20%.
This is very good for a young elected official who has only been present for 3 years.
It is already more than our LR candidate for the last municipal elections
, ”analyzes an observer from the Lyon right.
Undermined by internal divisions and unable to offer a counter-model to the policy put in place by Gérard Collomb, the Lyon right has been looking since 2001 for a successor to Raymond Barre and Michel Noir.
At just 30 years old, the mayor of the 2nd arrondissement has unquestionably taken the lead in his political camp, now united, but emerging bloodless from the Collomb years.
Suzerain of a weakened party, which for three years has been scouring the markets, the pots of neighborhood associations, sports clubs.
"
Undoubtedly he is working on the files and the land but he still has work to do, must erase certain faults and build a project and a vision for the city
", continues this history of the Lyon right.
Pierre Oliver believes in his "
stations of the cross
" which will lead him to take control of the Hôtel-de-Ville.
Whether in three or nine years: “
There is a whole old team that lives in a memory of the past.
In Lyon, many elected officials have had everything without bleeding themselves by inheriting the
"
stations of the cross" from Gérard Collomb.
But they are not the ones who made the trip
.
If it seems unlikely that Yann Cucherat, more focused on the "
collective
" than on
the "ego
" by his own admission, will challenge him for this leadership, David Kimelfeld could be more inclined to take the lead of a broader opposition. .
Even if it already attracts some criticism for wanting too much to take the light.
"
The problem with the union is David Kimelfeld.
He has already upset a lot of people by telling everyone what they want to hear and then doing the reverse.
Politically, we don't know where he is
”, we deplore on the side of LR where it is difficult to swallow his support for Najat Vallaud-Belkacem during the last regional elections.
An anti-green front as the basis of an agreement?
Beyond their personal and political positions which diverge here and there, the Lyon opposition parties could make their criticism of the environmentalist majority the keystone of a future agreement.
“
Yes, what we all have in common is that we see that the city is going in the wrong direction.
After three years we can say that there was an error on the goods in Lyon
, ”says Yann Cucherat.
Already the teams of his group and that of the Republicans work together in the town halls of the 2nd and 6th arrondissement after the second round alliance of 2020. And regularly take common positions during municipal councils.
“
On major issues, we make sure to work together, to share as much as possible a strategy that everyone can understand in order to lay the foundations for a future alliance.
And if we don't come from the same political parties, there are 90% of the subjects on which we agree.
In an alliance, you need concessions and I want to do everything so that Lyon regains its stature
, ”says Pierre Oliver.
According to several sources, if no official alliance for 2026 exists between them today, their teams are already working together on the definition of major axes for the city.
“
From there to moving on to the realization of the union, there is a step that remains to be taken
”, concludes an LR executive.
They still have two years to agree.