Élisabeth Borne, a “head of department” facing “a superior who decides everything”?

She offered herself a break nearly 10,000 kilometers from the Parisian torments. For her first trip overseas since her appointment to Matignon, Elisabeth Borne opted for Reunion Island, from Thursday to Saturday. Working breakfast, factory visit, meeting with local actors… If the program does not really look like a tourist getaway, it offered a breather to the resident of Matignon, at the end of a trying political sequence.

Because, since the passage in force of 49-3 on the pension reform, the resentment of Emmanuel Macron towards him continues to grow. With a palpable consequence: the word of the head of government was repudiated at the top of the state. A striking example. Elisabeth Borne maintains that she will no longer use the 49-3 off budget text. “I am not responsible for the interviews with AFP of the Prime Minister”, stings the president.

A political situation, of course, but similar to the adventures of corporate life, when your line manager torpedoes your presentation. It can be terrible for the person who is reframed by his superior, especially in public, it takes a lot of resilience to hold on, analyzes Françoise Briel, founder of a consulting firm in recruitment. The superior who decides everything, on his own, is a great classic of management, it’s just what you shouldn’t do”.

A question of “room” for maneuver

So, what attitude to adopt when your “superior” is President of the Republic? Former tenant of Matignon (2012-2014), Jean-Marc Ayrault experienced this strange relationship between the two heads of the executive from the inside. “In my mind, the president must be the bearer of the main orientations, the main political lines. The Prime Minister is the one who keeps the machine running. The president must leave his head of government enough leeway, but this is not always the case. In my personal experience, I have experienced both scenarios”.

The first Prime Minister of François Hollande gives two examples. Confidence, first, during a pension reform in 2013. Then, mistrust, after an idea of ​​tax reform, not supported by the Elysée. Press articles, SMS exchanges, communication problems… The episode puts a chill between Matignon and François Hollande, as mentioned by Brigitte Ayrault, his wife, in A woman’s path (2021).

“That there are tensions and different approaches, it’s not abnormal, you shouldn’t necessarily be offended by it, tempers the ex-edile of Nantes. But, when there is tension, it is necessary to evoke the subject in all transparency. Without it, there is no trust. Afterwards, it’s still politics, it’s not personal.

A head of department at Matignon

Politics, precisely, Elisabeth Borne is not known to be a fervent supporter. More technical than instinctive, the ex-director of the RATP enjoys a reputation as a hard worker, “woman of file more than communication”, depicts Françoise Briel, before specifying: “a real manager surrounds himself with people more competent than him and gives them space. He leans on them and trusts them. There, one has the impression that Macron surrounds himself in such a way as to be the only one in the light”.

The executive tandem of the Fifth Republic has experienced upheavals in the way it operates. As Michel Lascombe, specialist in constitutional law, reminds us, Jacques Chirac’s second term marks a turning point, with the concomitance of the presidential and legislative elections. “Since then, Prime Ministers have become collaborators, as Sarkozy said of Fillon. It’s even worse. They are only responsible for taming Parliament. When there is no possibility of domesticating it, like now, things go wrong”, deciphers our expert.

“I am not here simply to administer the country”, had however declared in the world the Prime Minister, during one of her rare attempts at emancipation from the Elysée. “She’s a very good technician, but she has no leeway, she can’t get rid of a minister, for example. Not having room for maneuver has often been the case with second-term prime ministers, appointed so as not to overshadow a president for re-election. Except that there, Borne was chosen from the start, recalls Michel Lascombe. She’s a head of department, she’s there to work, it’s almost more thankless than being a collaborator. A collaborator, you work with her, we ask her for her opinion”. By her own admission, Elisabeth Borne considers that she is on a “CSD” at Matignon. It remains to be seen whether it will be renewed again.

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