In Boulogne-Billancourt,
It is 8 p.m. this Tuesday in the Espace Landowski room, in Boulogne-Billancourt (Hauts-de-Seine). Xavier Bertrand takes the microphone in front of some 200 people. In silence, the president of Hauts-de-France breaks the abscess. “These explanations, I owe them to you. Yes it’s true i left [
des Républicains] in 2017. But I did not join any other party, I did not create one. I didn’t want to compete with LR. I only had one political family, I never betrayed ”. The presidential candidate is in operation to win back the LR militants before the party congress in early December, which will appoint the candidate for the right and the center.
A departure of the Republicans that weighs heavily
For several months, the former mayor of Saint-Quentin (Aisne) rode machinery and tried to impose his candidacy on the right by
sweeping away any idea of primary. But weakened and isolated, Xavier Bertrand was finally forced to participate in the internal ballot of his former movement. An admission of failure and a risky bet: his fate is now in the hands of LR militants. And some members still criticize him severely for having slammed the party door with a bang in December 2017, against a background of dissension with the boss of the time, Laurent Wauquiez.
“We went from 230,000 members to 58,000 in a few years, so I am not the only one to have left”, he tries to justify in front of the room. “You may not agree, but I made it on a strategic choice: the fight against extremes, which has always been important in my career,” he adds, referring to the refusal of the ex-president LR of clearly choose Emmanuel Macron against Marine Le Pen in the second round of the presidential election.
“I am in the position of challenger, I like it”
Rest that ranting the last few months could weigh heavily as its main competitors in Congress, Michel Barnier and Valérie Pécresse, bent to party rules last summer. “I am in the position of challenger, I like it”, Xavier Bertrand told the press, shortly before entering the scene. The Northerner recalls that he finally took his card back and that he scrupulously plows the LR federations to regain the hearts of the militants. “This is the 25th meeting I’m doing this evening, I have about 30 left, we are even organizing videoconferences. I don’t know how to campaign other than 100%. I try to convince, by going out to meet people, ”he adds.
His team has planned no less than eight meetings between now and Saturday, in Val-d’Oise, Pas-de-Calais, Yvelines, Morbihan, Loire-Atlantique, Charente-Maritime and Gironde. “The program is dense, but we do as much as possible, in the evening, at noon …”, confirms Julien Dive, LR deputy for Aisne, in charge of the organization. “There is always a slightly pissed off guy who asks about his departure, but Xavier Bertrand answers with humility. And in the end, he manages to return the rooms ”.
“He is the most convincing, the most determined candidate”
This Tuesday evening, the former Minister of Labor of Nicolas Sarkozy defends his programmatic triptych: authority-work-territories. The candidate is comfortable, answers questions, gives “work more to earn more” on overtime tax exemption, attacks “these damn wind turbines”. Or assures that “fear must change sides”, referring to his proposal to establish minimum sentences for the aggression of police officers. Formulas chiseled for a delighted audience, which also applauds the projections against the President of the Republic. “Mr. Macron had his chance and he failed. He had to unite the French, he divided them ”.
After two long hours of discussions, the room is partly standing. But the candidate seems to be in front of an audience already conquered. “I came because it is the most convincing candidate, the most determined”, greets one of them at the end of the evening. “He gained in charisma and depth. Its program is clear to get the country out of the current complex situation, by giving more room to the territories, ”Laurence also enthuses.
His supporters hope his lead in national polls will result in a useful vote in early December. They are also counting on the four televised debates between the candidates scheduled before the Congress to make a difference. “This will make it possible to reach the activists who have not been touched, in the small LR federations which sometimes have 50 members,” recognizes the LR deputy of Pas-de-Calais Pierre-Henri Dumont. And to show the French that Xavier Bertrand is the only one able to win the right wing next April ”.