RN is convinced that it now has the necessary human resources. But doubts remain.
The problem is not new. Since its creation, the National Association has always had a problem with personnel and had little representation in the networks of the state body. The question arises even more so today, when an extreme right party is capable of winning the presidential election. If Marine Le Pen came to power, wouldn’t the functioning of the state stop?
For years, the RN has tried to profile senior officials from within its ranks. To show that his teams have expanded, that major government officials are no longer so hostile to him. For example, the Horace circle, these shadow advisers to Marine Le Pen, led by former prefect André Rouget, who bring together magistrates, diplomats and other government administrators. Except that internally we tend to describe people at the end of their careers as a bit withdrawn and unlikely to hold important positions.
Mass resignation of senior officials?
Recently, a new figure came to power to expand the party’s network. Ambroise de Rancourt, head of administration of Marine Le Pen. Enark, well suited to this environment, traditionally unfavorable for the Lepenists, was given the mission to lead various groups consisting of many high-ranking officials, precisely in order to draw up the RN program and best prepare it for its eventual rise to power.
Because one thing worries the party: the hypothesis of a mass resignation of high-ranking officials if Marine Le Pen wins. It even became the subject of jokes. “Of course, if we come to power, some will be on antidepressants,” laughed the RN MP for Var Laure Lavalette a few months ago. Jordan Bardella doesn’t believe it, and is confident the government agency will follow suit. “And in the worst case, there are a number of people who are simply waiting to replace them. When every second Frenchman votes for the RN, it is illusory to believe that we have no allies in the organs of state,” he says in a private conversation. Elected officials abound.
Thomas Menage, a Loiret deputy, admitted back in 2024 that he had received several invitations to dinner from members of the Court of Auditors on his territory. The thirty-year-old deputy saw this as a generational change, also associated with the sociological evolution of the party. “We will not have old ones, but there will be new ones, Assembly administrators, administrative judges, we know them, we studied with them, we intersect. NN is now more popular and more heterogeneous, which makes relationships with such a profile easier.” As for Marine Le Pen, we assure you that the time when the RN struggled to recruit and persuade in these circles is over. Not everyone shares this optimism. “We have a real problem with personnel,” warns the ministerial potential. We need to find a director general, directors of the cabinet of ministers, people who can stand it… And we are not drowning in talent.”
posted July 15 at 8:55 am by Marylou Magal, L’Express