Elisabeth Borne will go to Tourcoing (North) on Sunday for the big political back-to-school meeting of the Minister of the Interior, Gérald Darmanin. “She will go there”, assured her entourage to Agence France-Presse, confirming information from the Parisian, while the presence of the Prime Minister at this event, which must reflect Gérald Darmanin’s ambitions for 2027, has long been uncertain.

Gérald Darmanin took the entire political class by surprise by posting his interest in the next presidential election at the beginning of the month, four years before the election. He also received notable support from former President Nicolas Sarkozy. “2027 is a long way off,” Elisabeth Borne observed on Wednesday, recalling that her goal was to have a government at work.

Sunday, in Tourcoing, Gérald Darmanin intends to demonstrate the extent of his support. Three themes should be addressed: work, ecology and safety.

Gérald Darmanin proposed to the head of government to conclude the debates and “he is very happy to welcome him to Tourcoing”, said the minister’s entourage. “For the record, he had of course warned her of the event in July” and “he sees this as a sign of recognition of the debate of ideas that he has launched”.

A hundred parliamentarians expected

“I of course invited her,” Gérald Darmanin himself assured Friday to cut short any speculation about the presence of the Prime Minister and the quality of their relationship.

The minister expects the arrival in Tourcoing of “a hundred parliamentarians”. From the majority, including Laurent Marcangeli, the boss of the Horizons deputies, the party of Édouard Philippe, but also some elected Les Républicains.

Even from the centrist group Liot, which has tabled motions of censure against the government, but which the minister intends to pamper by going to his parliamentary days in early September in Guadeloupe.

A dozen members of the government should also make the trip, including the Minister of Labor, Olivier Dussopt.