Martine Aubry assured: “This is my last mandate. » The socialist mayor of Lille reiterated, Monday October 16, what she had already said during the victory of her list in… 2014. She will not be the next mayor of the fourth city in France. “Exceptional circumstances” changed its objective before the 2020 municipal elections, justifying its about-face by “ultraliberalism” of the policy led by Emmanuel Macron.
The runner-up of Pierre Mauroy, who turned 73 in August, will therefore not seek the votes of Lille residents; this time it is formal. On September 27, one of his former deputies, the socialist deputy Roger Vicot, announced In The voice of the North be a candidate for his succession. In response, the same day, the municipal majority signed a press release denouncing the method, which is unusual in Lille where city councilors have been choosing their successors for decades – the town hall then assured that the fact that it had not prepared its succession would not had nothing to do with it. Augustin Laurent (mayor from 1955 to 1973) had knighted Pierre Mauroy (1973-2001) who, in turn, went to pick up Jacques Delors’ daughter in 1995. The socialist activists followed each time, voting without flinching for the designated successors.
“An elected deputy, for whom we spared no effort to be elected, told us: “I am a candidate.” This is not our way of seeing the future,” reacted the deputies and municipal councilors of M’s teamme Aubry. They thus pretended to forget that if she was elected mayor for the fourth time in 2020, she owes it to the votes of the Lommois, a city associated with Lille, who brought her the dust of votes that she lacked for the take away – 227 exactly.
An influence that is eroding
“The deal with Martine Aubry was that we would choose the one who would be best placed when the time came,” recalls Mr. Vicot who said to himself “surprised by the disproportionate reaction” to the announcement of its ambitions for 2026. And to justify its coup: “A succession is being prepared! » Especially when the socialists came close to defeat, he implies. Gone are the days when the people of Lille offered comfortable victories to their mayors and it was moreover because Mr. Mauroy was beginning to feel threatened that he called Mme Aubry. Elected to the municipal council in 1995, she succeeded him as mayor in 2001 and then at the head of the urban community. In 2008, she was re-elected in a seat with more than 66% of the votes.
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