His omnipresence on the ground, these last two weeks, was intended to explain, reassure, comfort. The reception of several government ministers, including the first of them, Gabriel Attal, to demonstrate that Marseille counted from Paris.
On the evening of the announcement of the dissolution of the National Assembly, when she took the road for Marseille, Sabrina Agresti-Roubache knew that the exercise would be difficult. In Marseille, Didier Parakian, her deputy who has become a deputy since she joined the government, is also aware that the task will be difficult.
Between leafleting, conferences, company visits, and also supporting political figures on the front line in Marseille, such as Renaud Muselier, the president of the South Region, or Martine Vassal, the president of the Aix-Marseille Provence Metropolis and the Bouches-du-Rhône Department… Sabrina Agresti-Roubache spares no time or smile, which remains unfailing throughout the campaign. Because, she says, “it’s my nature to be optimistic.”
Against the RN, for Marseille
In Marseille, she enjoys a good image and everyone knows her. Her nickname, the “Minister of Marseille”, says it all. His appointment by Emmanuel Macron to be the pilot of the Marseille en Grand Plan is significant and demonstrates the desire to put an end to the chicayas which have been divisive for a very long time in France’s second city. Sabrina Agresti-Roubache as a unifier of goodwill, smiling of course but not tongue-in-cheek, it works. Iron fist in a velvet glove.
Legislative: in Marseille, will Sabrina Agresti-Roubache create a surprise?
The 23.6% garnered during the first round? Disappointment. Real. If the duo formed with Didier Parakian was never fooled by the rejection of citizens in general and Marseillais in particular for Emmanuel Macron, he hoped his involvement in the field and his knowledge of local issues would be a sufficient reason to rally certain voters, in particular from National gathering. If she had won in 2022 thanks to less than 500 more votes against Monique Griseti, it is the latter who takes the lead with 45.54% of the votes and who will face Pascaline Lécorché, candidate of the New Popular Front on Sunday next.
By withdrawing, Sabrina Agresti-Roubache is calling for a blockade to the RN.
But for the Minister of Citizenship and the City, this is already another page that is opening.
Because we cannot imagine the film producer wisely returning to her production company and resuming the normal course of her life.
By creating her micro-party, called With Sabrina, she has already taken a step into the future.
After July 7
Sandra Blanchard, who was his campaign director and who chairs this micro-party, is also general secretary of the collective “A generation for Marseille”, chaired by Romain Simmarano, chief of staff of the President of the South Region, Renaud Muselier.
From there, to saying that Sabrina Agresti-Roubache is preparing for the 2026 municipal elections, there is only one step that many take.
It is certain that the political trajectory of the “Minister of Marseille” will not stop there. Firstly because the situation of the Phocaean City is particular. Installed in the chair of First Magistrate, Benoît Payan has difficulty in bringing out projects and making his mark, especially having to manage the great political gap represented by the Marseille Spring, the coalition that allowed the left-wing bloc to regain the municipal reins.
But this Marseille Spring is a coalition that is not easy to maintain. And Benoît Payan would also be preparing for the future, wanting to reposition himself towards the centre left.
Legislative: In the South, Gabriel Attal as a sales representative for the presidential party candidates
On the right, we stick together. We stand united. While it is obviously too early to imagine Sabrina Agresti-Roubache as a candidate for a union of the Republican right, the future of her city obviously does not leave her indifferent.
2026 is both far and close at the same time. Far for those who are already aiming for this goal, because they have to go the distance. Close to those who have not yet made their mark on the field because it is necessary to gain notoriety and relay on the ground.
Sabrina Agresti-Roubache has all the assets. On X, she acknowledges her defeat, explaining that “ In life, failures happen, we never recover from dishonor “, thus calling for no votes to be given to the RN.
Certainly her third position in the first round is a defeat. But in addition to the horizon of 2026, there is also this Plan Marseille en Grand whose future awaits her under the next government we do not know. Stop or encore? And if encore, how and with whom? So attached to Marseille, Emmanuel Macron should not abandon his beloved city. If she remains mobilized on the front of the Legislative elections until July 7, the “Minister of Marseille” may no longer be a minister but no less a personality with whom we will inevitably have to reckon…
