France Inter, 8:20 a.m., July 24. The most listened-to morning show in the country welcomes a voice unknown to the French, the director of finances for the city of Paris, a fervent defender of public services. But since the day before, Lucie Castets has had another line to add to her CV: she has been designated by the New Popular Front (NFP) to be its candidate for Matignon. After sixteen days of intense negotiations, the leaders of the left-wing parties, who came out on top in the early legislative elections, but without obtaining an absolute majority in the National Assembly, have agreed on her name.
If Lucie Castets has already appeared in the media, this interview is of a completely different dimension for someone who was approached by Olivier Faure, the head of the PS, to represent the NFP. “The idea of becoming Prime Minister had never crossed my mind, even when I was brushing my teeth,” she confides to the World. In the corridors of the radio station, we remember a Lucie Castets who “read his cards” that morning and who was “very, very stressed at first”, before being “a little more comfortable at the end of the interview.” Which does not prevent him from trying to impose a showdown with Emmanuel Macron. “I ask the President of the Republic to take responsibility and appoint me Prime Minister”she says confidently.
The head of state has nevertheless closed the door to this possibility. An hour after the designation of Lucie Castets by the left, Emmanuel Macron is on the set of France 2, on the evening of July 23, to discuss the political situation, but also the Olympic Games which begin in a few days. “The subject is not there. The subject is not a name given by a political party”reacts the president, without even naming Lucie Castets. “It is clear that until mid-August we must be focused on the Games and then, depending on the progress of the discussions, it will be my responsibility to appoint a Prime Minister.”he continues. In the Macronist ranks, at the same time, the choice of Lucie Castets is being castigated, “not at all serious”. “It really gives the impression that they picked a young graduate of the ENA at random just to say that they had found a name”criticizes a government advisor. “Did you know Lucie Castets?”says a Renaissance MP ironically.
These criticisms of the thirty-year-old’s lack of notoriety deeply annoy the left. “Who knew Jean Castex before he was appointed? Or even Emmanuel Macron, two years before he became president?”snaps the ecologist deputy Benjamin Lucas. Faced with the refusal of the head of state, Lucie Castets goes into campaign mode. The left hopes that “popular pressure” will end up imposing itself on Emmanuel Macron.
“Faced with this extraordinary situation, we are inventing things. It is the president who is forcing us to campaign.”
Benjamin Lucas, Green MPto franceinfo
After France Inter, here she is, on the morning of July 25, on the BFM set where she promises to sign, upon her arrival at Matignon, a decree postponing the implementation of the reform raising the legal retirement age to 64. Anxious not to offend any component of the NFP, she sidesteps certain issues, such as nuclear power or the presence of Israeli athletes at the Olympic Games. “She is the point of convergence of all the lefts, she must bring people together, that is what she seeks to do and that is why she weighs her words”defends PS MP Arthur Delaporte.
Two days later, Lucie Castets went to Lille for her first field trip. The sequence, organized in a hurry, went off without a hitch. “She was quite comfortable and smiling, not too stressed, but very controlled.”recalls a journalist present on the scene.
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At her side, Marine Tondelier does not leave her side for a second. “From now on, if he [Emmanuel Macron] refuses to appoint Lucie Castets, it is sabotage”says the head of the environmentalists. Aurélien Lecoq, LFI deputy of the area, spends his time introducing himself to the 200 or so people Lucie Castets as “our candidate for Matignon”Apart from a few curious onlookers, it is mainly activists who are crowding around the new figure of the left.
The press is present, but media interest is elsewhere. After weeks entirely devoted to the upheavals of French political life, the cameras turn to a global event that began the day before with the opening ceremony: the Olympic Games. From that moment on, Lucie Castets’ campaign for Matignon takes a back seat. “The period is dominated to a large extent by the Olympic Games and leaves little room for political news”recognizes Arthur Delaporte. “It is difficult to demonstrate popular pressure in the middle of August and in the middle of the Olympic Games”but “Lucie Castets has a very good sequence in this difficult media context”qualifies Benjamin Lucas. The NFP leaders, like the head of the PCF, are also showing their confidence.
“The Olympic break is a natural occurrence, of course. But that doesn’t worry me (…). That doesn’t stop me from working to prepare for the post-Olympic period. And the acceleration will come in due time, around August 15.”
Fabien Roussel, national secretary of the PCFto franceinfo
Among Emmanuel Macron’s supporters, we note that Lucie Castets “has disappeared”. “It is not this sometimes haphazard campaign that will change the spirit of the institutions”assures a close friend of the head of state, who has in mind the absence of an absolute majority of the NFP. And the same adds: “A Prime Minister must be able to bring together a large and stable majority, which is not the case for the NFP, due to the position of LFI.” Many political forces, such as LR, RN and Renaissance, have made it known that the presence of rebellious members in a government would lead to an immediate motion of censure.
“Lucie Castets, before asking and demanding, should work to understand how our democracy works and the associated rulesaffirms the spokesperson for the resigning government, Prisca Thevenot. The Prime Minister does not impose himself on the President of the Republic; it is the latter who appoints the Prime Minister.” Renaissance MP Mathieu Lefèvre even mentions “an attempt at a narrative coup to impose on the French the idea that [le NFP] would be in the majority”.
Despite the context of the Olympic Games, Lucie Castets continues her media tour and her travels. On July 28, she gave an interview to The galleryin which she says “at the barycenter of the New Popular Front” and assures that she will do “compromises except with the RN”On July 31, she went, surrounded by several representatives of the NFP, to the Duralex factory, whose takeover project as a SCOP had been validated by the Orléans commercial court, saving 226 jobs.
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A field visit appreciated by the unions. “We wanted to talk about ourselves and we knew that if she came to our house, we would talk about Duralexsays Suliman El Moussaoui, CDFT union delegate. We got to know her, she is approachable and she understands the challenges of the work.”
But, on the same day, Lucie Castets had to face her first controversy. The chained Duck reveals that the financial director of the City of Paris took paid leave rather than taking leave, her status as a civil servant requiring her to exercise a duty of confidentiality. On the same day, Parisian opposition elected officials send a letter to the Paris public prosecutor, mentioning “a violation of his duty of reserve through his political positions, which exposes him, at a minimum, to disciplinary sanction”. Asked by AFP, Lamia El Aaraje, spokesperson for the socialist mayor Anne Hidalgo, sees nothing wrong with this: “Our legal and HR departments carried out an analysis, following the request of Lucie Castets, and did not identify any legal issues.”
Emmanuel Macron’s supporters are still following suit. “QWhen you are a civil servant, you of course have the right to campaign in a party, admits Prisca Thevenot. But if one wants to express and carry one’s opinions without reserve, then it is not compatible with the status of civil servant. Unless one puts oneself on leave… She prefers to take leave.” The next day, on RTL, Lucie Castets defended herself. “My personal situation is very clear, and obviously I made sure that everything was in order, she assures. If necessary, when the time comes, I will make myself available.”
In the middle of the Olympic Games, the controversy did not take hold and Lucie Castets continued her media tour. On August 6, she spoke to the regional daily press with an interview at South West in which she says “at work”. But this is an interview at Paris Match which is much more commented on: she reveals that she is married to a woman and has a child. Vincent Bolloré’s weekly is often chosen by politicians to lift the veil on their private lives. It is a question of doing, in a few weeks, “a notoriety campaign”assures Arthur Delaporte. Will that be enough? “We can’t do much more than that, we can’t be responsible in place of the head of state”slips the socialist. Lucie Castets “hopes that by swimming for the time of a summer, she will impose herself on Macron at the start of the school year. And will remain the preference of the left. At the risk of annoying before even being appointedobserves political communication specialist Raphaël Haddad. It’s a bet.”