The new executive includes five former deputies defeated in the legislative elections of 2022 or 2024.
To compose his government, François Bayrou drew from the pool of the National Assembly – Yannick Neuder, Laurent Marcangeli and Aurore Bergé. The centrist prime minister, however, did not hesitate to appoint former deputies, defeated in the legislative elections of 2022 or 2024. On X, the leader of the Insoumis deputies, Mathilde Panot, denounced a “government full of people disowned at the polls”.
You don't have to go very low in the protocol order to find ministers defeated in the legislative elections. Manuel Valls, Minister of Overseas raised to the rank of Minister of State, had been discreet since his failure in 2022 in the 5th constituency of French people living abroad. After his disappointment in the municipal elections of Barcelona in 2019 (13.18% in the first round), the former prime minister tried his luck in this territory which notably includes Spain and Portugal.
Benefiting from the investiture of La République en Marche, the ex-socialist was the favorite. The outgoing Macronist deputy for the constituency Stéphane Vojetta, however, maintained his candidacy. With only 16.17% of the votes, Manuel Valls did not qualify for the second round. He immediately deleted his Twitter account. On Monday, Stéphane Vojetta did not fail to react to the nomination of his former opponent: “No, the Iberian Peninsula is not considered overseas.”
“These losers have no business being in power”
Appointed Minister Delegate in charge of Relations with Parliament, the centrist Patrick Mignola also suffered a defeat during the 2022 legislative elections. This close friend of François Bayrou lost in the 4th constituency of Savoie against the Insoumis Jean-François Coulomme, after a very close second round with only 604 votes difference.
Following her defeat in 2022 in the 6th constituency of Essonne, Amélie de Montchalin was forced to leave the Ministry of Ecological Transition barely a month after her appointment. She is now returning to the government as Minister Delegate in charge of the Budget. She succeeds Laurent Saint-Martin in this position, now Minister Delegate in charge of Foreign Trade and French people abroad. He too was defeated in 2022 in the 3rd constituency of Val-de-Marne by Louis Boyard. After his appointment at Bercy last September, the young LFI troublemaker was already outraged by his return to business: “These losers have no business being in power. Let them get out.”
The precedent of Alain Juppé
Patricia Mirallès was defeated in the early legislative elections last summer. Which does not prevent her from making her return to government as Minister Delegate in charge of Memory and Veterans – a position she has already held in the teams of Élisabeth Borne and Gabriel Attal. Candidate for succession in the 1st constituency of Hérault, she came in third position with 22.54% of the votes. Although she was able to remain in the second round, she had decided to withdraw her candidacy to «barrage» to the RN.
This is not the first time that figures defeated in the legislative elections have returned to government. In 2007, Alain Juppé was forced to resign from the Ministry of Ecology after his defeat in the 2nd constituency of Gironde. Three years later, Nicolas Sarkozy called on him for the Ministry of Defense.
