In 2015, Nicolas Sarkozy won the prize for political humor attributed by the Press Club de France for a dig at the MoDem president: “To despair over François Bayrou, I would have to have once placed hope in him…” Nine years on, what hopes do Les Républicains (LR) have in the centrist’s appointment as prime minister, announced on Friday, December 13? Even before the motion of no confidence against Prime Minister Michel Barnier, a member of LR, reactions were cold on the right when Bayor’s name began circulating. “We’re open to discussion, but Bayrou, that isn’t really possible,” hinted MP Ian Boucard. “Just mention his name and half the group jumps up to the ceiling,” added another LR lawmaker.
Opposition to Bayrou in the ranks of the right harkens back to the 2012 presidential election. Defeated, Nicolas Sarkozy felt betrayed by the MoDem president’s choice to vote for Socialist François Hollande in the second round. The former president never forgave the centrist for the decision and the two men have been bitterly opposed ever since. Sarkozy called him a “traitor” in his book, The Time of Storms (“The Time of Storms,” 2020). “François Bayrou has always betrayed those he has chosen,” he wrote. “Emmanuel Macron will, in turn, have bitter experience of this before the end of his term. I don’t doubt it for a moment.”
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Bayrou’s long conflictual relationship with the right
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