Aurélien Rousseau, former Minister of Health under Emmanuel Macron, announced on Friday that he would represent the left-wing coalition “New Popular Front” in the legislative elections in the seventh constituency of Yvelines, in the name of the fight against the National Rally. “The RN must not come to power. Alongside Raphaël Glucksmann, strong in my values, republican, universalist, for progress and emancipation, I am committed to the dynamic of bringing together the left Popular Front, the only one capable to block the far right,” wrote Aurélien Rousseau on X.
“He’s someone who had courage”
Aurélien Rousseau left the government in December after the vote on the immigration law. He had previously been the chief of staff of Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne, notably during the highly contested pension reform. “He is someone who had courage, who left on a red line. The symbol is strong. We are going to be both the popular front and the republican front,” commented a close friend of Raphaël Glucksmann. “It shows all its coherence,” quipped Emmanuel Macron after the announcement of this rally, on the sidelines of the G7 in Bari (Italy).
Aurélien Rousseau, an enarch who is preparing to celebrate his 48th birthday, had formerly been a member of the PCF, before participating in the victorious campaign of socialist Bertrand Delanoë in 2001, of which he then became deputy chief of staff. Aurélien Rousseau held this same function during a first stint at Matignon from 2015 to 2017, under the orders of the socialists Manuel Valls and Bernard Cazeneuve. From 2018, he became the director of the Île-de-France Regional Health Agency, appointed by the Minister of Health at the time, the Macronist Agnès Buzyn, before joining Elisabeth Borne at Matignon in July 2021.
During the legislative elections, scheduled for June 30 and July 7, he will notably face the outgoing deputy of the presidential majority and herself a former minister, Nadia Hai, who won the second round (55.78%) in 2022 against an LFI-Nupes opponent. This constituency is organized in particular around the town of Conflans-Saint-Honorine, the electoral stronghold of Michel Rocard.
Marine Le Pen estimated that “the far left is fueling violence and chaos”
On the social network “The same one, the only one, who left the government because of the Immigration Law,” she again paid tribute. Minister of Justice Eric Dupond-Moretti wished “courage to Nadia Hai who has not been unworthy, who has been fighting alongside the Conflanais for so many years in a selfless commitment”. And “courage also to Aurélien Rousseau who will have to explain why the pension reform that he meticulously negotiated must be abolished.”
Ironically about this rallying, Marine Le Pen estimated that “the far left is fueling violence and chaos to hide its hypocrisy and its systematic betrayal of French workers”.