To lead the political fight, Marion Maréchal needed an effective tool. Negotiations and preparations took several months. “Either I created a party ex nihilo, she explains to BV, either I worked with Laurence Trochu [présidente du Mouvement conservateur, NDLR] : this structure existed, it was smarter to transform it. It was a saving of time and energy. » Monday evening, the former head of the Reconquest list in the European elections brought together the leaders of the small Conservative Movement in a discreet place in the XVe district of Paris. The planned scenario went off without a hitch. Laurence Trochu resigned from the presidency and Marion Maréchal was unanimously elected by voters to replace her. In the process, it was decided that the name of the Conservative Movement disappeared to give birth to another movement, Identity-Libertés. This October 7th in the evening, Le Figaro published, a little ahead of the agreed time, an interview with Marion Maréchal who announced the news.
The gamble was thrown ! Marion Maréchal plunges back into the electoral furnace, this time with a party in her hand, but heir to a story.
Human capital
The discreet Conservative Movement was born from Common Sense, the political arm of the Demonstration for all. Very marked by Catholic commitment, it aims to go beyond this anchoring. Marine Le Pen’s niece found in trash “human capital to be redeployed”according to her: executives, activists, sometimes coming from the conservative branch of François Fillon’s supporters in 2017, local and regional structures, reinforced by defectors from Reconquête, and thematic centers of reflection (economy, media, etc.) . “We’re going to count our marbles quicklyassures an ex-Reconquest regional executive contacted by BV. All the executives who left Reconquest joined together on a WhatsApp thread: everyone was waiting. » Registrations for the new party are now open.
The coming weeks will be crucial for measuring the attractiveness of Identity-Libertés. “More than half of the local Reconquête executives followed me spontaneously”assures us Marion Maréchal. The new party also hopes to attract LR elected officials and executives to strengthen the structure which includes six “puppet” elected officials: three European deputies – Guillaume Peltier, Nicolas Bay and Laurence Trochu – and three deputies in the National Assembly – Thibaut Monnier, Anne Sicard and Eddy Casterman.
Reconquest “in a political impasse”
The party, although born from a split with Reconquest, wants to break with a patriotic right historically more inclined to fragmentation than unity. “I am not here to create yet another political movementconfides Marion Maréchal. We will be one of the pieces necessary to help the national camp win, a piece that was missing during the legislative elections. » She wants to be pragmatic. The RN is crushing the political landscape on the right: it takes note of this and wants to lead a strategy of alliances focused on the conquest of power. This is the origin of her break with Reconquest, she insists. “By refusing union at the risk of winning over the left, the leadership of Reconquest has locked itself into a political impasse. »
Concretely, Marion Maréchal has already discussed the future with her allies Jordan Bardella, Marie Le Pen and Éric Ciotti, but negotiations around the candidates are not on the agenda. An executive mentions union lists for the future municipal elections of 2026.
A major regional tour
The municipal elections are in fact the first and main electoral objective, unless a second dissolution of the National Assembly occurs beforehand. Thus, in the coming weeks, the party will appoint regional leaders. Particular attention will be paid to metropolises where marionists already have established or elected profiles. To mobilize goodwill and win over the hesitant executives who remained at Reconquête or at LR, the former MP for Vaucluse will very quickly begin a major tour of the regions. The party will also organize in Paris, in 2025, an event mobilizing the group of European Conservatives and Reformists to which Marion Maréchal belongs in Strasbourg: there will be 54 deputies from 16 countries, members of groups such as the Italian Fratelli d’Italia ( Meloni), the Spanish Vox or the Polish Law and Justice. The machine is launched. Our ex-Reconquest regional framework is full of enthusiasm: “It is not impossible that the RN will deflate and that we will become a big party”he says.
Patriotic and liberal on the economic level, Identity-Libertés will have to, to emerge, differentiate itself from the parties of Éric Ciotti, Nicolas Dupont-Aignan and Éric Zemmour. A challenge.
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