Legislative: in Hérault, Patrick Vignal withdraws… “It’s not a wave, it’s an anti-Macron surge”

You were already in an unfavorable position in 2022. Was it not possible, this time, to reverse the trend?

I have received many calls since Sunday evening, including from the President of the Republic, asking me not to abdicate, messages telling me that victory was possible. But we must be clear-headed. I went back on the mat (he is a judoka, Editor’s note), knowing full well that there were two blocs that had been sacred since the European elections: the RN and its allies on one side; the left front on the other. But they (the New Popular Front, Editor’s note) managed to come together again, which we were unable to do. I am 2,500 votes behind, the game is over. It is not a wave, it is a surge. It is the game of democracy.

So it wasn’t so much Patrick Vignal as Emmanuel Macron who lost?

To reassure my ego, I can see that I did more than some of my colleagues, but it was not enough this time. But yes, clearly, there is a strong Macron disengagement. That’s how it is.

Do you blame him?

I can say that I owe him my defeat, but I don’t forget that I especially owe him my victory in 2017. I remain convinced that what people want is for you to love them, for them to realize that there is this flesh. They don’t care about the economy, they’re not interested in Excel spreadsheets. He had that seven years ago and that’s also what created hope, that’s what made me one of the first to join him. But since then, it must be recognized that he has taken some blows. And he ended up isolating himself.

Do you have any regrets?

I have often been criticized, within Macronie, for playing the rebel. I am a man of the left and I tried to move the lines within my party, to shake up the President during the debates on pensions, during the episode of the “yellow vests”. Today, I regret not having gone further. This is the mea culpa that I want to make.

Are these legislative elections the end of Macronism?

I think Renaissance is dead. Macronie too. He won alone in 2017, I regret today that he lost all alone. We must now find women and men of good will who are not just greedy for power and who want to share it.

Isn’t that utopian?

The problem, for several years, is that politicians have been maintaining anger. And when we send this anger back to the citizens, only extremes and chaos come out… We must therefore get out of this hole and this can only happen through a central bloc, around peaceful people, I am thinking of Bernard Cazeneuve, Carole Delga, Michaël Delafosse, Raphaël Glucksmann, François Ruffin, Raquel Garrido… I would have liked to participate in this reconstruction.

But that’s not what’s happening on Sunday…

For my part, I call for not giving a single vote to the RN. I tell people: “Do not give power to people who think that immigrants have no place in France, to a party that wants to put Marion Maréchal in National Education”. I do not think that Jordan Bardella will have an absolute majority and will go to Matignon. On the other hand, Jean-Luc Mélenchon will want to be Prime Minister, but I call on my Green, Socialist and Communist friends not to play this game. A political recomposition will therefore have to take place after July 8 and I hope that we can move towards a coalition government, with men and women of different sensibilities who are not preparing for 2027. I told Emmanuel Macron that he must now hand over the keys to the truck and stop trying to pull the strings. We are at the foot of the wall.

But who, then, will drive the truck?

I trust political road warriors, Carole Delga once again, François Hollande, Valérie Rabault…

Are you returning to your first family?

I may be an idealist, but I would especially like to see humanity restored to this society. That is what I have tried to do during my terms in office. And for that, I will always be available.

In the meantime, you are sending a message to your voters in view of the second round…

I have always been clear on the subject and I remain so. My mentor was called Georges Frêche and he always fought the National Front. I owe him that, because I owe him everything.

Is this then a call to vote for your rebellious rival Nadia Belaouni?

I won’t hide from you that things would have been simpler if I had had in front of me, like Laurence Cristol (in the 3rd constituency) or Patricia Mirallès (in the 1st constituency) a socialist or ecologist candidate. I am very embarrassed with a part of the Insoumis and I don’t want either Jordan Bardella or Jean-Luc Mélenchon as Prime Minister. But I am not the only one. Since yesterday (Sunday), many have told me that they will not vote. On the contrary, I tell them that they must go and vote. If possible, not for the RN. And I sincerely hope that this political restructuring will be able to begin the day after July 8.

You have been a member of parliament since 2012, elected for over twenty years. Today you no longer have a mandate, is a page turning?

I was elected on one wave, I lost on another, so it is normal that I put down the suit and tie. I will be able to devote myself to my business, to apartments that I have had to renovate for three years.

What if Mr. Macron dissolves again in June 2025?

I think I’ll go back. I like it. And like in judo after a defeat, I’ll try to be better.