The succession of Rachida Dati at the head of the LR and related group of the Council of Paris is causing tensions with the other barons of the Parisian right, annoyed by a message from the Minister of Culture on the distribution of positions.
Rachida Dati supports the candidacy of Catherine Dumas
Tuesday evening, the 53 elected officials of the Changer Paris group must elect their new leader after the resignation of the minister, who however confirmed her intention to run for mayor of Paris in 2026. Her surprise appointment within the government of Gabriel Attal has led to his exclusion from the party. On Wednesday, Jean-Pierre Lecoq, the LR mayor of the 6th arrondissement, announced his candidacy for the presidency of the group in a letter to elected officials in which he calls to “promote alternation in Paris (in 2026) with Rachida Dati”.
Thursday, Senator LR Catherine Dumas confirmed her candidacy to the AFP, arguing “the continuity of the group” of which she is the first vice-president. On Sunday, Rachida Dati announced in a message to elected officials her support “for the candidacy of Catherine Dumas for the presidency, and for that, immediately, of Jean-Pierre Lecoq for the 1st vice-presidency”. “For my part, I will be a candidate for vice-president, with your agreement,” she adds, highlighting this “consensual solution”.
But his proposal sparked an immediate reaction from the other heavyweights in the group, apart from Jean-Pierre Lecoq: the four Parisian senators, including Catherine Dumas, and the other district mayors. “The agenda of this General Assembly provides exclusively for the election of the new president,” they recalled in a press release. “It is not an arrangement between ourselves, other elected officials wish to be first vice-presidents,” reacted to AFP Catherine Dumas, specifying that the press release comes from “mayors and parliamentarians who are supporting my candidacy “.
For Paris LR advisor Aurélien Véron, there is “no questioning of the leadership” of Rachida Dati among these elected officials. But for a source close to the group, Rachida Dati committed a “clumsiness” which particularly “annoyed some who criticize her for being in the government” and “say that they can be candidates in 2026”. After his announcement to run for City Hall despite his exclusion from the party, the leaders of the Republicans affirmed that their party would be “present” during the municipal elections.