Gérard Collomb, emblematic mayor of Lyon and former Minister of the Interior under Emmanuel Macron, died this Saturday, his wife Caroline Collomb announced to AFP. Aged 76, in September 2022 he revealed that he was suffering from stomach cancer. “When it became clear that his illness could not be improved by any anti-cancer treatment, he wished to benefit from deep sedation which allowed him to pass away peacefully with his family” around 9 p.m. on Saturday, he said. -she said in a brief message to AFP.
Born on June 20, 1947 in Chalon-sur-Saône, it was in Lyon that Gérard Collomb spent most of his political career, being mayor of the capital of Gaul for almost twenty years (from 2001 to 2020 with a parenthesis between 2017-2018). Deputy then senator (1999-2017), he long embodied the right wing of the PS. It was therefore quite natural that he joined Emmanuel Macron, becoming the first Minister of the Interior from 2017 to 2018, under the government of Edouard Philippe.
But if he has long desired a ministerial role, he cannot stay far from Lyon and that is why he resigns from his post at Place Beauvau to prepare for the Lyon metropolitan elections of 2020. But his new Macronist label does not serve him as he had hoped and he finished in fourth place in the first round before making his final shift to the right by supporting in the second round the list of his historic right-wing opponent François-Noël Buffet, finally beaten by the eco-friendly Bruno Bernard.
Tireless, he was already preparing the reconquest of Lyon and its metropolis, but this time by taking on the role of coach. A dedication to Lyon, until his last moments.