July 4, 2022. After her defeat in the legislative elections, Brigitte Bourguignon, Minister of Health for a month and a half, hands over to her successor, emergency physician François Braun. She will have just had time to announce a few measures to respond to the hospital crisis. On the steps of the ministry, at the time of the transfer of power, she declares, very moved, in front of her successor: “It is often said that political life is built on defeats. This is my first. It is rough. So I wish you, dear François, dear Agnès, to be well here. I was well here with you and for you. Thank you and courage.”
In the sixth constituency of Pas-de-Calais, 56 votes separated Brigitte Bourguignon from the candidate of the National Rally, Christine Engrand, who came first. In the past, the former Minister Delegate for Autonomy had beaten the RN three times. In 2012, she was then a socialist. In 2017, under the label La République en Marche and in 2021, during a partial legislative. In all, she remained in government for less than two years. She put her suitcases down in her apartment in Boulogne-sur-Mer, her hometown.
“It’s always a difficult moment because for two years, we live daily with a cabinet, even at night, we create links.”
Brigitte Bourguignonon franceinfo
“When you have to leave all that suddenly, it’s brutal, it’s violent. Me, I must say that I was sad to leave everyone and to leave a site that brings me a lot. I really trust the person following me. Besides, I have no problem with that. On the other hand, yes, it is difficult to let go, to get out of the office, to say goodbye to everyone, it’s complicated”, notice Brigitte Bourguignon.
The days after were difficult to live. Brigitte Bourguignon says she has “experienced several days of prostration. We sit and say to ourselves ‘Here, I’m at home’. And it’s been months since I came to my house and I have to refocus on what is What is essential in life is my family, my children, my grandchildren, my friends. Fortunately, they are there, but we isolate ourselves. I rather experienced voluntary isolation. Going from that world to your daily life which resume, it’s very complicated.”
After this defeat on the wire, she finally chose not to appeal. “I believe that we do not question a vote like this, she tells franceinfo. The people chose the people, from the moment when there are no flagrant irregularities, the verdict of the ballot box must be accepted. Then you have to ask yourself the real questions. What I know is that, now, I am going to campaign, as I have always done, against the National Rally in my constituency, in my territory, in the canton in which I am elected. Because it’s a fight that we all have to fight together with an RN who has won five points in one year. It’s not neutral when you have a constituency in which Marine Le Pen won 58% in the presidential elections, you can’t tell yourself that you’re safe”she defends.
And Brigitte Bourguignon tries to understand what, this time, made the difference in this election: “What made the difference is that there is a left-wing force called Nupes, which was created in the meantime, which did not exist when I did my partial. We, we made the projections, we recalculated all the votes carried over and really in a very objective way. They did not vote blank, they did not abstain: they voted FN. So, when we have that at I tell myself that the collusion of the extremes explains this result. And that was something that we didn’t have last year and that appeared in the landscape. It’s something quite new.”she analyzes.
According to Brigitte Bourguignon, a disinformation campaign was orchestrated against her during the campaign. “I had fake news pasted on my posters before the first round. I also filed a complaint. The person who was arrested was a person from the Nupes, it was not someone from the RN. There was this phenomenon, like having a target in the back. It only took two weeks for someone to convince people that I wasn’t there, whereas I’ve been very present for ten years. I could have actually appealed only on the basis of that since the people were arrested. However, I did not do it. But here it is, it is clearly another phenomenon that has been grafted. There there was a very clear collusion of extremes in my constituency”she explains to franceinfo.
Today, Brigitte Bourguignon’s only mandate is that of departmental councilor in the same canton, where she has “continue to invest a lot in his department” because there is “work to do.” She projects herself: “There are also other deadlines that will come up and I will strive to go there and work for that. I will not say more for the moment because it is enough that I am told what ‘we’re going to make everyone jump on you. In any case, I have a lot of projects, and above all, I’m asked by a lot of elected officials according to the territories who would like me to take a town hall, a canton. .. Me, I need to reflect and see this quietly”, concludes Brigitte Bourguignon.
A consolation prize for the former MP and former minister, a few months after her failure: Brigitte Bourguignon was part of the promotion of July 14 for the Legion of Honor. The names of several ministers from Emmanuel Macron’s first five-year term were on the list.