No absolute majority in the National Assembly, and several ministers forced to resign following this second round of legislative elections. It’s a cold shower for Emmanuel Macron. Together ! obtains 247 seats, and three ministers will leave the government.
Brigitte Bourguignon, the Minister of Health lost by little. With only 56 additional votes, it is the candidate of the National Rally, Christine Engrand who wins the 6th constituency of Pas-de-Calais. The Minister for Ecological Transition, Amélie de Montchalin, was beaten in the 6th constituency of Essonne. She obtained only 46.64% of the votes, thus giving way to her opponent invested by Nupes, Jérôme Guedj. Finally, Justine Benin, the Secretary of State in charge of the Sea was seeking a second term in the 2nd constituency of Guadeloupe. She was credited with 41.35% of the vote, making her opponent from Nupes the new deputy.
“As is the republican tradition, I will not be part of the next government”, announced Amélie de Montchalin when acknowledging her defeat, thanking Emmanuel Macron “for his confidence”. Brigitte Bourguignon also spoke “Given this result, I will leave the Government and my functions as Minister of Health and Prevention. Is this departure really an obligation or rather a tacit rule imposed by the president before these elections?
FAKE OFF
When they were appointed, the ministers had been notified. The Elysée announced that they would retain their position on the condition of electoral success in the legislative elections. Otherwise, “yes” they will have to resign had underlined the presidency. Even the Prime Minister, Elisabeth Borne, was affected by this rule. She narrowly escaped it since she obtained the small score of 52.46%.
This is not the first time that Emmanuel Macron has decided to apply this rule. Five years ago, Edouard Philippe, in his role as Prime Minister declared: “It is the republican tradition. (…) It’s always been like that, and it’s quite healthy. In reality, no text provides for the resignation of a minister in the event of defeat in any election whatsoever.
This rule has been applied de facto since the election of Nicolas Sarkozy in 2007. Alain Juppé, then Minister of Ecology and number two in François Fillon’s government, had to resign after being beaten in the legislative elections in Bordeaux. A defeat that did not prevent him from returning to government three years later, to Defense and then to Foreign Affairs. François Hollande had also chosen to apply this principle, pushing certain ministers not to appear, at the risk of losing their post.
Only for leavers since 1988
In 1988, while Michel Rocard’s government was in place, Bernard Kouchner and Brice Lalonde retained their government positions despite their defeat in the legislative elections. And for good reason, they were not already elected in their constituency.
Another variant existed. This applied only to outgoing deputies. Candidates for their re-election, the socialists Georgina Dufoix, minister in charge of family matters, and Catherine Trautmann, secretary of state to the minister of social affairs and employment, had thus resigned from the government of Michel Rocard in June 1988, after lost their constituency.
A few exceptions do exist, however. In 2002, Dominique Versini retained his post as Secretary of State in the government of Jean-Pierre Raffarin, despite his defeat in the legislative elections.
Discover the results of the second round of the 2022 legislative elections by city, department and district on 20 minutes.