After the reshuffle, eight members of the Borne government left the keys to their ministry on Friday, while waiting to continue their careers. Franceinfo has looked at the trajectories of former members of government since the election of Emmanuel Macron in 2017.
They are eight to leave the Borne government after the reshuffle announced Thursday, July 20. Some have already begun to prepare for the aftermath, such as the former Secretary of State for the Social and Solidarity Economy and Associative Life, Marlène Schiappa, who would see herself joining the Publicis group, according to The world. Before her, many outgoing ministers of a government of Emmanuel Macron have won important positions in the private sector, when others have been appointed to the senior civil service.
>> Reshuffle of the government of Elisabeth Borne: follow our live
If the outgoing ministers are not entitled to unemployment, they can receive compensation for three months if they find themselves without activity. In fact, few people have difficulty finding a job after adding a ministerial portfolio to their CV.
Those who have (re) gone private
It is a recurring landing strip for former members of government under Emmanuel Macron. Many early macronists came from and returned to the corporate world. Julien Denormandie had created a start-up before being appointed to the Philippe government in June 2017. After managing the City and Agriculture portfolios, he was hired as chief impact officer in a firm advising companies to reduce their carbon footprint, three months after leaving the rue de Varenne. Former Secretary of State for Digital Mounir Mahjoubi has launched a platform for the sale of second-hand goods.
The former government spokesperson Philip II Sibeth Ndiaye became general secretary of the Adecco group, which specializes in temporary work. After having been Secretary of State for Ecological Transition, Brunette Poirson returned to the private sector as director of sustainable development in the Accor hotel group. As for Elizabeth Moreno, former Minister Delegate for Gender Equality, she joined Sanofi’s Diversity Council in the spring, a paid position, according to a spokesperson foru pharmaceutical group quoted by AFP.
The transition from government to business is rarely blocked, but Cedric O paid the price. In June 2023, the Council of State confirmed the prohibition for the former Secretary of State for Digital to become an administrator of the Atos IT group, in order to avoid any conflict of interest, confirming the opinion of the High Authority for the transparency of public life (HATVP).
Those who returned to Parliament
When the executive tandem offered them to enter the government, they abandoned their parliamentary mandate, entrusted to their deputy. Once disembarked, they can recover their seat automatically “no later than one month after the cessation of their governmental functions”as provided for in the Constitution. “I knew that I became a Member of Parliament again, which is an honour”confided to franceinfo Stephane Travertappointed to Agriculture in June 2017 before being replaced in October 2018, and happy to have returned to his constituency in La Manche. His successor Didier Guillaume had on the other hand decided to resign from his mandate as senator of the Drôme after being in turn landed in July 2020. A choice that has not been made Jean-Baptiste Lemoynebecame Senator of Yonne again on June 21, 2022, after two years as Minister in charge of Tourism and then SMEs from July 2020.
At the end of Emmanuel Macron’s first term, in May 2022, several ministers campaigned for the legislative elections in order to keep their mandate as deputy, set aside during their time in the Castex government. Barbara Pompili was thus re-elected MP in the Somme after barely two years at the Ministry of Ecological Transition, and Nadia Hai returned to the Palais-Bourbon, victorious in the Yvelines, after a year and ten months as Minister Delegate in charge of the City.
Those who favored a local mandate
The reshuffle prompted some to leave Paris. After a year and a half at Place Beauvau, Gerard Collomb became mayor of Lyon again in November 2018, thanks to a vote by the city council. Unfortunate candidate for the presidency of the metropolis of Lyon, the former Minister of the Interior saved his seat as adviser to the town hall and to the metropolis during the June 2020 election.
Francois Bayrou, ephemeral Minister of Justice in 2017, pushed out because of the legal troubles of the MoDem, retained the town hall of Pau and the presidency of his party. If he left the government, the centrist continues to exchange regularly with Emmanuel Macron. He was also appointed High Commissioner for Planning by the Head of State in September 2020.
Those who have been appointed to the Constitutional Council
The ministry of Territorial Cohesion can lead to rue de Montpensier. On the proposal of Emmanuel Macron, the former minister Jacques Mezard joined Les Sages in March 2019, after being in charge of the Agriculture portfolio and then Territorial Cohesion. Her replacement Jacqueline Gourault also joined the Constitutional Council in March 2022.
As provided by law, Emmanuel Macron can appoint three of the nine members of the institution for a non-renewable term of nine years. These appointments must be validated by a vote of the Senate and Assembly Law Committees.
Those who have been assigned to a large body of state, a public establishment or the administration
Many prestigious positions are accessible through presidential decisions from which several former ministers have benefited. Government Spokesperson, Secretary of State for Relations with Parliament then Minister of the Interior, Christopher Castaner was exfiltrated in July 2020 in the face of the discontent of the police unions and regained his seat as deputy of the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence. In 2022, four months after his defeat in the legislative elections, a ministerial decree allows him to join the supervisory board of the port of Marseille, of which he is elected president on November 25, 2022. A week earlier, a presidential decree had already appointed him president of the board of directors of the French concession company of the Mont-Blanc tunnel, a company owned by the state. Thereformer minister of health Agnes Buzyn was also propelled by decree to the Court of Auditors in September 2022.
Defeat in the legislative elections of June 2022, Brigitte Bourguignon had to leave the government and the Ministry of Health, according to the rule set by Emmanuel Macron. The latter appointed her general inspector of social affairs two months later, by decree. Amelie de Montchalinalso landed after a defeat in the legislative elections, obtained the position of ambassador to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), on a decision taken by the Council of Ministers at the end of November 2022. She succeeded Muriel Penicaudanother ex-minister to whom this prestigious post had been entrusted.
By decree of the Head of State, the former Minister of Housing Emmanuelle Wargon obtained in August 2022 the presidency of the Energy Regulation Commission (CRE), an independent administrative authority responsible for controlling thethe electricity and gas markets. She did not obtain the support of a parliamentary majority but was nevertheless able to accede to the post, because the quota of votes required to contradict the presidential will has not been achieved.
Those who have returned to the media
More rarely, ministers turn to TV sets, such as Roselyne Bachelot. The former Minister of Culture also saw her wish to retrain at Radio France rejected by the HATVP in July 2022. On the other hand, she was authorized to become a columnist on RTL again and join BFMTV.
Benjamin Griveaux also set out to conquer the small screen, hosting a program on the economic channel B Smart in 2021 and 2022. A choice “fully in line with [son] consulting activity for business leaders had declared to Sunday newspaper the former spokesman for the government Philippe II, who has in parallel created several companies since he left politics.
And the others
The executive sometimes entrusts special missions to ex-ministers. This is the case of the yearformer Minister of Foreign Affairs Jean-Yves Le Drian, “personal envoy for Lebanon” since early June. The objective is to “facilitate” a solution “consensual and effective” to the serious political impasse in which the country finds itself, explained the Elysée about the one who led the Quai d’Orsay for five years. The former Minister of National Education Jean-Michel Blanquer became a professor of public law at the University of Paris II.