The essayist and far-right journalist Patrick Buisson died on Tuesday December 26 at the age of 74, confirmed the police of Sables-d’Olonne (Vendée), after information from Le Figaro and Le “Parisien. He was one of the most influential political advisors of the Fifth Republic, working with Nicolas Sarkozy for the 2007 campaign, then throughout his five-year term.
A supporter of an “uninhibited right”, he notably pleaded for an alliance between the National Front, the Rassemblement Pour la République (RPR) of Jacques Chirac and the Union for French Democracy (UDF) of Valéry Giscard d’Estaing. He is also behind the creation of a ministry of immigration and national identity.
“Patrick Buisson was a man of great culture, a talented writer and a mad lover of France,” reacted Marine Le Pen, leader of the National Rally, on X.
In 1981, Patrick Buisson became a journalist in the far-right weekly Minute, before heading its editorial staff in 1986. He took over as editorial director of Valeurs Currents in 1987, and began a long career as a political analyst on LCI. He truly entered politics in the 1990s.
Patrick Buisson has been involved in several legal cases. In February 2014, Le Point revealed that the political advisor recorded meetings with Nicolas Sarkozy at the Elysée without his knowledge. Then, in 2015, he was indicted in the Elysée poll affair for “concealment of favoritism”, “embezzlement of public funds” and “abuse of corporate assets”. He was sentenced to two years in prison and a fine of 150,000 euros for having benefited from major survey contracts without a call for tenders.
More information to come
