For Gérald Darmanin, Marine Le Pen's victory in 2027 is "quite likely"

Marine Le Pen elected president in 2027? “Quite likely,” said Gérald Darmanin, in an interview with La Voix du Nord on Thursday. The Minister of the Interior refuses that the popular electorate takes refuge entirely with the National Rally and pleads for a “return of authority” at school and in the street.

“The fact is that in five years, a victory for Madame Le Pen is quite likely. Faced with this, we will only need one candidate. And that we do not rely only on the winners of globalization and the elected officials of the city centers, because that does not make 51% of the votes, ”judges Mr. Darmanin. “If we let a majority of the working and middle classes go to Marine Le Pen, the senior executives will not take us to the second round”, insists the Minister of the Interior.

Mr. Darmanin organizes Sunday in his electoral stronghold of Tourcoing (North) his first political return, where several ministers and several dozen parliamentarians are expected, a few weeks after the ministerial reshuffle and the maintenance at Matignon of Elisabeth Borne. “On Sunday, I will say that the social question is essential. That’s what would get Marine Le Pen elected in 2027, not the migration issue. In 2007, let us remember, Nicolas Sarkozy was not elected on national identity, but on the question of work. So we have to tackle it, ”insists Mr. Darmanin.

“I have some ideas about what the working classes are waiting for: a return to authority in schools and on the streets, more firmness in justice and law enforcement. People are also demanding to be able to live off the fruit of their labor,” the minister explains.

The former leader of the Republicans (LR), rallied to Emmanuel Macron in 2017, “pleads, for example, for the postponement of the reduction in production taxes for companies”, and wishes that “some” of them make “efforts” on wages.

“I add that we have to worry about a new proletariat made up of all these single-parent families who are not making it. What was wrong with the pension reform was that they were in effect being asked to work more under current conditions,” he adds. Asked about the recent reshuffle, Mr. Darmanin assures that he “always thought that the President of the Republic would not change government. It was way too early. We change it when we have difficulties in Parliament or lose an election”.

But he says he is “sometimes frustrated” at not being able to state his “political opinion”. “I said to the president, you have to let the sensitivities come out. I don’t have the same as Bruno Le Maire, that doesn’t prevent me from enjoying being in government with him. “I got from the president that I could express my sensitivity more on Sunday,” says Mr. Darmanin, whose political offensive is accelerating the timetable within the majority when in 2027, Emmanuel Macron will not be able to stand again.

“2027 is a long way off,” Elisabeth Borne retorted on Wednesday, while Stéphane Séjourné, boss of the Renaissance presidential party, judges that “ideas must come before egos”.