For once, Emmanuel Macron did not create a surprise. By appointing Elisabeth Borne in place of Jean Castex, the president made the triple choice of continuity, loyalty and favorite.
Why did the profile of this experienced minister, 61-year-old polytechnician, woman of records, reputed hardworking, having carried out two of the main reforms during the first term (SNCF and unemployment insurance) prevail? There are three main reasons for this.
Elisabeth Borne ticks all the boxes set by candidate Macron during the campaign. He wanted a woman, a little leftist, a little green, with social sensitivity and capable of difficult reforms. The name of the ex-Minister of Transport, ex-Minister of Ecological Transition and ex-Minister of Labor finally made sense. All after twenty-one days of hesitation. “The president does not like the obvious, says Richard Ferrand, the pillar of Macronie. He looked for other names and then he came back to his first intuition. In truth, the Head of State hesitated until the last moment with Catherine Vautrin, the former minister of Jacques Chirac who became a Sarkozyist, before renouncing this right-wing profile.
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The outgoing majority – walkers in the lead – wanted Elisabeth Borne. After having known two Prime Ministers from the right (the Juppeist Edouard Philippe then the Sarkozyist Jean Castex), the marchers welcomed the appointment of Elisabeth Borne with satisfaction and even relief. The Macronist leaders have, for the first time, closed ranks to convince the president that it was the right one and to defeat the project of defectors from the right to impose Catherine Vautrin.
Read also: Elisabeth Borne, Prime Minister: the reactions of political figures
Elisabeth Borne takes her risk. She will be a candidate for the legislative elections in Calvados for the first time. A constituency, certainly, not too risky, but it will have to fight to win. An election is never won in advance. Unlike other outgoing ministers who have weighed and under-weighed the risks, the new Prime Minister had anticipated her choice. And decided to be a candidate no matter what. She still has to win the legislative battle to earn her stripes as majority leader before fully embarking on her mission as Prime Minister, the 2nd under the Fifth Republic in thirty years.