François Bayrou wishes to keep Bruno Retailleau in his post. But the Republican has set his conditions and the left is threatening to censor the government.
François Bayrou's government has not yet been named, but Bruno Retailleau could remain Minister of the Interior. He is in fact almost guaranteed to remain in his post. In any case, this is the wish of François Bayrou, who spoke on this subject in an interview given to France 2 Thursday December 19. “In the formation of the government, I think that Mr. Retailleau has shown in recent weeks that he had found directions which responded to part of the opinion,” justified the new Prime Minister.
To do this, François Bayrou accepted the conditions of the Republican, who was the first to speak with the new head of government. A meeting which took place only a few hours after the appointment of the Prime Minister on December 13. On this occasion, Bruno Retailleau reminded François Bayrou of his wish to implement an offense of illegal residence, a reform concerning state medical aid, a tightening of family reunification and the rules of land law in Mayotte. , and finally, conditionality regarding aid for regular residence.
The prospect of remaining at Place Beauvau delighted Bruno Retailleau, but the outgoing minister estimated on December 18 that the conditions to ensure its continuation were not met. “I could only stay in government if I am able to pursue the policy that the majority of French people want, that is to say, to restore authority, firmness, public order, both in the streets only at our borders”, he explained on BFMTV-RMC before speaking once again with the Prime Minister. Since then, the former senator seems to have revised his position, at the same time as his LR party. “All the conditions are met for the maintenance of Bruno Retailleau in the government. He has obtained the guarantee of being able to continue his work of fighting against illegal immigration and controlling legal immigration”, slipped a close friend of the minister to BFMTV.
The left puts pressure
But the reappointment of the resigning Minister of the Interior could be undermined by the left, which François Bayrou also wants to see within his government. The Socialist Party has indicated that a new immigration law would automatically lead to censorship of the future executive. A position shared by Ecologists who go even further: for Marine Tondelier, the maintenance of Bruno Retailleau is “a reason for censorship in itself”.
This is why Bruno Retailleau claims to be open to options other than a law to act on immigration: reducing the AME budget could, for example, take the form of an amendment. Will this step to the left be enough for the outgoing minister to remain in government?
Retailleau, Bayrou’s right turn?
It could be difficult to convince the left, because Bruno Retailleau embodies a very right-wing line since his appointment to Michel Barnier's government on September 21. And in just three months, the minister has become a leading figure in the government. It also responds to attacks by the French according to François Bayrou. “I will never give in to anything, I will not let anything pass and I will not tolerate any attack, any offense. Shame on those who express hatred towards our police forces in their speeches, it is unworthy and I I will never let it happen. […] We must have the courage to be firm, the French want more order, order in the streets, order at the borders,” declared Bruno Retailleau during his handover of power.
In addition to immigration, the senator's positions on security and family make him the representative of a hard right within LR. Enough to transform his appointment into a shift to the right of the government. If Emmanuel Macron has been criticized for a right-wing of power, particularly by the left, the President of the Republic does not, however, share certain positions of the right-wing senator.
Who is Bruno Retailleau?
Born on November 20, 1960 in Cholet, this senator from Vendée and president of the Les Républicains (LR) group in the Senate has established himself as an influential voice within his party in recent years. Bruno Retailleau took his first steps in politics in the 1980s. After studying philosophy, he got involved alongside Philippe de Villiers, founder of the Movement for France (MPF), a sovereignist and conservative party. He quickly became his right-hand man, particularly in Vendée, a department where Philippe de Villiers enjoyed considerable influence. Bruno Retailleau was elected general councilor of Vendée in 1988, marking the start of his political career at the local level.
His proximity to Philippe de Villiers led him to become vice-president of the General Council of Vendée in 1988, then president of the Regional Council of Pays de la Loire in 2015. However, relations between the two men gradually deteriorated. In 2010, he distanced himself from the MPF to join the UMP, Nicolas Sarkozy's party, marking a turning point in his career.
A figure of the senatorial right
The Senate quickly became the main theater of Bruno Retailleau's political ambitions. In 2004, he was elected senator of Vendée and began to build a reputation as a grassroots man, attached to the values of the traditional right and. His positions are often conservative on societal issues, but he adopts a more liberal line on economic matters.
In 2014, after the electoral debacle of the UMP in the municipal elections, Retailleau was elected president of the UMP group (which became Les Républicains in 2015) in the Senate. It was in this role that he truly became known to the French. He positions himself as a figure of consensus within his party, capable of speaking to all right-wing sensibilities. Under his presidency, the LR group in the Senate developed certain reforms of the left-wing government, under the presidency of François Hollande, in particular on the Labor law.
The failed 2017 presidential campaign
Close to François Fillon, Bruno Retailleau becomes the coordinator of his campaign for the 2027 presidential election after the latter's victory in the right and center primary in 2016. Retailleau shares with Fillon a conservative vision on societal issues and an assumed liberalism on economic issues.
However, the affair of fictitious jobs which splashes François Fillon compromises the campaign. Bruno Retailleau maintains his support until the end, but Fillon's defeat in the first round of the presidential election marks a halt in his career. This episode did not prevent him from continuing to have influence in the Senate, where he became a figure of opposition to the presidency of Emmanuel Macron, while defending a right-wing project firmly anchored on questions of security and immigration.
National ambitions and management of LR
After the presidential election, Bruno Retailleau remains an influential voice within the right, particularly in the face of the rise to power of Emmanuel Macron and La République En Marche. In 2020, he ran for president of the Les Républicains party, but ultimately withdrew to support Christian Jacob, in a gesture of unity. Bruno Retailleau embodies the senatorial right, more conservative and less inclined to compromise than the other elected LR officials. He has always advocated for a hard line on sovereign issues.
