Stéphane Séjourné appointed to the Quai d’Orsay, the majority starts to think again about his head of list

His appointment changes the situation, the new Minister of Foreign Affairs was expected to lead the Renaissance list in the European elections on June 9. Without a natural candidate to lead the battle, the Macronists are therefore looking for the right profile.

The presidential majority was, almost, ready to launch the European campaign, the week of January 22, with Stéphane Séjourné as head of the list. But the cards are reshuffled, since the boss of Renaissance has just been appointed Minister of Europe and Foreign Affairs. THE “time is running out” worries a MEP as the vote will be held on June 9, 2024. “As the redesign is not completed, it is difficult to plan ahead,” admits an executive.

A second round of appointments is, in fact, expected to complete the government team. Except that, in the meantime, the polls are looking gloomy. The weekend of January 13 and 14, an Elabe survey for La Tribune Sunday gave the Macronist list at 18%, 10.5 points behind the National Rally (RN) list of Jordan Bardella, without effect “Gabriel Attal at Matignon”at this stage anyway. “This poll is not good, like the previous ones”admits a MEP, before putting things into perspective, “in 2019 our list was at 16% at the same time, before finishing at 22”. A way of expressing that mass is not said for the elections of June 9.

A candidate from the left wing?

Without a natural candidate to lead the battle, the quest for the right profile has resumed for the majority. What if it was the former Minister of Transport Clément Beaune? He is contacted by elected officials and activists, according to those around him. Former Minister of European Affairs, during Emmanuel Macron’s first five-year term and involved in the preparation of the June 9 election, his name comes up in the discussions. Olivier Véran is also cited, the now former government spokesperson having increased his trips to cities led by the National Rally in recent months. A parliamentarian suggests another name, that of MEP Pascal Canfin.

Beaune, Véran, Canfin, three options from the left wing. Enough to raise eyebrows in an ex-LR who would find “strange not to drive the point home”, in line with the new government. Other names are in the prediction machine, such as that of European Commissioner Thierry Breton, or former minister Julien Denormandie, who was in the shortlist for Matignon. “Unless the president pulls a name out of the hat to create a new blast effect?”, asks an executive. In the meantime, Stéphane Séjourné will have to find a slot in his ministerial schedule, already full of trips abroad, to see François Bayrou and Édouard Philippe, so that the three majority parties can take stock together.