Bruno Le Maire does not return to campaign in Eure for the legislative elections

The Minister of Economy and Finance, Bruno Le Maire, at the Elysee Palace, May 4, 2022. STEPHANE DE SAKUTIN / AFP He will not go. In a press release posted on Twitter at the same time as he was holding a press conference in Evreux, Bruno Le Maire announced, Thursday, May 5 in the morning, that he will not stand for the legislative elections of June 12 and 19. “I have always told voters that I will not serve more than three terms: I keep my word”, explained the Minister of Economy, Finance and Recovery, elected in 2007 and 2012 in the first constituency of Eure, first under the UMP label, then, in 2017, under the Macronist banner of La République en Marche (LRM). The announcement, which preceded by a few hours the publication of a first list of nominations from the presidential party, may come as a surprise from one of the heavyweights of the government. Among the other members of the executive, the Minister of the Interior, Gérald Darmanin, who shared Bercy with Mr. Le Maire until the summer of 2020 as Minister of Public Accounts, formalized on Thursday, his candidacy in the North. Read also Article reserved for our subscribers The ambitions of Bruno Le Maire, the convert of Macronie The constituency of Mr. Le Maire, a largely rural area hit by deindustrialization, at the gates of Ile-de-France, is one of those where the National Rally (RN) achieved its best scores in the presidential election. Eure, whose departmental council is chaired by Sébastien Lecornu, loyal to the head of state, is the only department in Normandy to have placed Marine Le Pen in the lead in the second round, on April 24. Mr. Le Maire sweeps away any idea that his withdrawal is due to a refusal of an obstacle: “Political life needs clarity and change in its practices” and a constituency “is neither a right nor a rent: it imposes duties, including that of giving way to new or different personalities, ”he justified to the press on Thursday. Strict rule “It’s a surprise only for those who don’t know me, he explains to Le Monde. I believe in changing political practices. I proved that I could face direct universal suffrage three times. I am free of my choices”, claims the one who had resigned from the senior public service in 2012 for, he affirmed, to fight “the spirit of caste”. Already at the time, he carried a bill for “democratic renovation” in order to limit the number of successive terms of office to three. The announcement contrasts with the atmosphere of 2017, when Nicolas Sarkozy’s ex-minister of agriculture said: “Without the voters of Eure, I have no legitimacy. “At the time, Emmanuel Macron, newly elected, had put in place a strict rule: the members of the government vying for the legislative elections should give up their post in the event of defeat. “I can lose everything”, then assured the new tenant of Bercy. He finally obtained 64.53% of the votes in the second round in his constituency, against the candidate of the National Front. You have 40.02% of this article left to read. The following is for subscribers only.