The navy blue wave has almost blown up all the dikes on the French electoral map. With just over nine million votes, the National Rally is leading the way in this first round of the legislative elections. In Paris, Jordan Bardella’s party made a significant breakthrough in the very chic 16th arrondissement thanks to Louis Piquet. Formed from the alliance with Éric Ciotti’s Republicans, it collected 17.56% of the votes behind Benjamin Haddad, who was well ahead with 47.71%, and Patrick Dray (LR historic channel) who totaled 17.70% of the votes. Who is this 53-year-old candidate who refuses to withdraw for the moment?
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Former Reconquest activist!
Louis Piquet joined the party founded by Éric Zemmour on December 6, 2022, the day after the former journalist’s first speech. Figaro in Villepinte (Seine-Saint-Denis). He was one of the very first to join the adventure of the far-right party. In this capacity, he became the party’s delegate in the 16th arrondissement of the capital.
He left the party in a hurry in the last week of filing candidacies for the 2024 legislative elections, following in the footsteps of Marion Maréchal, who was excluded for having spoken out in favour of a union with the National Rally.
Voter of François Fillon in 2017
Louis Piquet said to Challenges be “a child of the Trocadero”referring to the demonstration organized by François Fillon in March 2017 a few weeks before the first round of the presidential election in the midst of the “Penelope affair”. For Louis Piquet, the Republican candidate was prevented from accessing the Elysée because of “The Deep State”.
This expression, brought up to date by Donald Trump during his candidacy in 2016, is very popular in American conspiracy circles. For the candidate for deputy, François Fillon was the victim of an instrumentalization of this “Deep State” who would have “piloted the instruction in record time” et “transmitted information to the media” in an equally record time for the “disqualify”. “It was really what was done to François Fillon that pushed me to get involved in politics”he says.
Executive at OpenText
A father with three children in higher education, Louis Piquet is an account manager at OpenText, a Canadian company specializing in digital document management. He began his activity in one of the world leaders in the field in October 2018.
Former resident of the 18th arrondissement of Paris
Born in Roanne (Loire), Louis Piquet studied in Lyon and its region before settling in Paris. He lived in the popular 18th arrondissement of the capital for a little less than twenty years. An experience that he claims to have “much appreciated” before then setting up shop in the 16th arrondissement where a certain Nicolas Sarkozy, the last LR president, now lives, and who is in favour of an alliance with the presidential majority from 2022.
Refuses to withdraw
This supporter of the union of the right who came in third place, 74 votes behind the LR candidate, does not intend to withdraw his candidacy. On the contrary, he claims to have called Patrick Dray, the candidate of the Republicans who want the departure of Éric Ciotti after his alliance with the RN.
“I explained to him that I was ready for a union of the right because it makes sensehe explains. This alliance is not an alliance of circumstance but an ideological one. It is a very strong current on the right and I am its expression today.” For him, the only way to make up for the 16,576 votes with Benjamin Haddad is for Patrick Dray to unite… provided that it is to his advantage.
