An elimination in the first round of the legislative elections would have been particularly embarrassing for the President of the National Assembly, a heavyweight of Macronie. Richard Ferrand took the lead in the first round of elections in the 6th constituency of Finistère, Sunday June 12, with 33.56% of the vote, ahead of the candidate of the New Popular Ecological and Social Union (Nupes), Mélanie Thomin (31, 16% of the vote).
Here is a deputy who cannot be accused of parachuting. Resident in Brittany since the end of the 1990s, general councilor of Finistère, then regional councilor, Richard Ferrand had obtained for the first time a seat at the Palais-Bourbon, under the colors of the Socialist Party, in 2012. He quickly took the wheel of ‘Emmanuel Macron when he begins his political ascent. At the end of 2016, he became secretary general of En Marche!, the movement of the future president. He was re-elected in 2017 under the banner of La République en Marche (LRM).
Mr. Ferrand leaves his post at the national representation only very temporarily, after the election of Emmanuel Macron at the Elysée, by entering the government as Minister of Territorial Cohesion. Position he occupies just over a month, facing an indictment for “illegal taking of interests” in the case of Mutuelles de Bretagne, a non-profit organization he led from 1998 to 2012 – facts that justice has considered as prescribed.
Immobilism
The episode provoked his resignation from the government. Richard Ferrand remains, nevertheless, an essential cog in the presidential camp, becoming president of the LRM parliamentary group, then winning the perch – the presidency of the National Assembly – in 2018, when its then occupant, François de Rugy, is called to the government.
For some observers of Parliament, his presidency was marked by a relative erasure of the National Assembly during a five-year term yet marked by social and health crises. Major modernization projects were shelved upon his arrival. The few reforms undertaken by Mr. Ferrand have left more room for opposition, without satisfying them. Not very sensitive to these grievances, Richard Ferrand would gladly see himself keeping the presidency of the Hemicycle, if he is re-elected on Sunday June 19.
