The relationship between Jean-Luc Mélenchon and Sophia Chikirou raise questions, but the two politicians have never formalized or denied anything. Paris Match returned a few weeks ago to their discreet duo with twenty-seven years separating them: “IHe did not wish to institutionalize his relationship with Sophia Chikirou, his companion since leaving the PS [il l’a quitté en 2008, NDLR].” Then, the magazine specifies that the couple forbids any gesture of affection in public. But how did they meet?
Back in 2008, Sophia Chikirou, a former socialist activist, is thinking of standing on a UMP list in the municipal elections, but changes her mind because she wanted to be head of the list, which she would not have succeeded in being. It was then that she approached the left-wing party, a movement founded in February 2009 by Jean-Luc Mélenchon, who had just left the PS. She then finds the politician she had known “by campaigning together for Laurent Fabius during the socialist primary of 2006“, we read on francetvinfo.
It was then that part of his journey in the shadows began. “She never had any official function, she was not an activist in the field, but we saw her at all the national councils. She never spoke at the podium, took part in any debate. But everyone knew she had direct access to Mélenchon“, explained a former member of the PG. Then, Sophia Chikirou becomes the press secretary of the one who is preparing for his first presidential election.
It is to her, a communication specialist, that he owes his radical change of image, especially among young people. Effective services when you see its popularity with those under 25 but which have a certain price: that of controversy. The magazine recalls that there is still an investigation at the financial center of the Paris court on the services of the communicator during the 2017 campaign. New stage for Sophia Chikirou: field politics, the real one. Elected in 2021 as a regional councilor, today aiming for the functions of deputy in Paris, she is gaining in influence. “Melenchonsees a relative for Paris Match, no longer decides anything without it.“Now a deputy in the 6th constituency of Paris, the candidate of the New People’s Ecological and Social Union (Nupes) finds the light, but remains as discreet as ever about her relationship with the boss of La France insoumise.