PORTRAIT. This former head of hospital service, who has been able to climb the ranks in Parliament since 2017, is facing her first major political test with the management of the hantavirus.
In France, certain ministries are in the news more often than others: the Interior, the Economy, Foreign Affairs. And there are others who, thanks to events, can occasionally come to light. Until now unknown to the French, the Minister of Health Stéphanie Rist has for several days been on all stages and at all press conferences, facing a hantavirus which is causing a lot of concern. A political challenge for the one who has until now cultivated a certain discretion… without ever hiding her ambitions.
“The entire ecosystem, whether global or national, has learned from the pandemic. The WHO reacted much faster, and so did the government.”confides the professional rheumatologist, who took advice from Agnès Buzyn, who in the same role faced the beginnings of Covid, in 2020.
A patient ascent behind the scenes of macronism
After twenty years within the CHR of Orléans, Stéphanie Rist was part of this wave of newcomers to politics, from civil society, who joined Emmanuel Macron in 2016: “I subscribed to his approach to efficiency. What interests me is being able to transform people’s lives.”explains the one who, since she penetrated the mysteries of power, has remained unfailingly loyal to the President of the Republic.
“She is a calm, discreet, sincere woman who works on her files.”greets Annie Vidal, Renaissance MP, also from the health sector. “And after ten years, she acquired a political culture. She learned to negotiate with colleagues around the texts she defended. HAS” Because Stéphanie Rist has, behind the scenes, acquired experience.
She was elected deputy in 2017, despite a controversy surrounding a (legal) remuneration of 22,000 euros by several pharmaceutical laboratories between 2012 and 2016. She joined the Social Affairs Committee a few weeks later. A strategic body in the Assembly, responsible in particular for questions of social protection, hospitals and pensions, which it intends to use as a springboard.
“He’s someone who knows his files.”
Quickly, it became a central element. She carries several projects, some of which are very contested. In 2021, the law that bears his name caps the remuneration of temporary doctors and provokes revolt from hospital unions. In 2023, to fight against medical deserts, it passed a law which allows direct access to certain health professionals (physiotherapists, speech therapists, etc.), without prior prescription.
If the objective is to free up medical time for general practitioners, its opponents criticize it for its managerial approach to health. “He’s someone who knows his files.”underlines Luc Duquesnel, president of the generalist branch of the confederation of French medical unions, who has known her for several years. “This a priori favors things. HAS” But, he specifies, “I can’t say that our remarks were considered.”
Behind the scenes, several former supporters describe an ambitious woman, attentive to the balance of political power. Nathalie Kerrien, deputy mayor of Orléans, supported her during the 2017 legislative elections. In 2020, in the municipal elections, she is running for the position of mayor. Stéphanie Rist then chose to support her opponent and outgoing mayor, Olivier Carré, by appearing in second place on her list. “The party made the choice to support the mayor at the time, and Stéphanie remained disciplined in relation to the party’s choice. What is never very pleasant is to discover this in the press…
Re-elected as a deputy in a chair in 2022, she intends to have more influence in the parliamentary game. She then offered herself the position of general rapporteur for the Social Security financing bill (PLFSS). A key seat, “a first step towards a position in Health”jokes a former supporter, little fooled by the ambitions of the person concerned. Olivier Véran and Yannick Neuder, two former Ministers of Health, held these positions before being propelled into government.
“The Renaissance group being the most numerous, it was obviously from them that the elected deputy would come. She managed to make people believe that this election had no issues.”thus avoiding any internal opposition. Elected to this position, it is she who brings, in 2023, the Social Security amending bill, which raises the retirement age from 62 to 64 years.
Its shadow on the Loiret
“To achieve her goal, she sometimes used questionable methods.”explains Nicolas Bertrand, former president of Renaissance in Loiret, who criticizes him in particular for a supposed alliance with Serge Grouard (LR) in the department.
In 2024, during the post-dissolution legislative elections, she is the only candidate from the central bloc not to be opposed by an LR candidate in her constituency. During the 2026 municipal elections, she remained in the shadows, supporting neither the candidacy of Caroline Janvier (Renaissance dissident) nor that of Grégory Meyer (Horizons dissident).
The minister remains tight-lipped on this subject, recalling that no candidate has obtained the party’s nomination. However, in the municipal team of the re-elected mayor, Serge Grouard, there are several of his close friends, notably his former parliamentary colleague, Maïté Sève. A posteriori, the party will attribute the victory of Serge Grouard, who had nevertheless declared in 2022, that in the event of a second round by Marine Le Pen or Éric Zemmour against Emmanuel Macron, he would vote blank. “She made choices that favored her personal interest.”accuses a former local baron.
“She has always functioned like this, even if it meant betraying her initial convictions to achieve her goal, to be re-elected as a deputy and become a minister.”still criticizes Nicolas Bertrand, who slammed the door of the party after the municipal elections. Because both supporters and opponents are unanimous: Stéphanie Rist has never hidden her ambitions.
She even went so far as to announce on Facebook about ten years ago, according to The Chained Duckthat she would “one day be Minister of Health”. “I have known her since 2016, since the first meeting of En marche dans le Loiret. She already said that her goal was to be Minister of Health. It’s not something she hid.” précise Nicolas Bertrand. “She felt this desire to put her skills at the service of the government”confirms Annie Vidal.
“When she was a deputy, she constantly requested meetings with the health advisor at the Élysée, with the health advisors at Matignon, with Élisabeth Borne’s secretary. She identified who was close to whom and carefully maintained her networks.”reports another elected official. The minister defends her pragmatism: “My ambition is to carry my convictions about the health system and to move them forward. Changing people’s lives is undoubtedly done more easily and effectively when you are Minister of Health than when you are a Member of Parliament. We have more means to develop the system. But to say that it was an ambition… I didn’t get up every morning and say to myself: “I have to be Minister of Health.â€
“She does what is expected of a politician”
On October 12, 2025, her ambition became a reality: after the fiasco of François Bayrou at Matignon, Sébastien Lecornu named her Minister of Health. She barely has time to take possession of her new offices on Avenue de Ségur. Less than two days later, on October 14, the social security budget was revealed. The minister is already on the grill, in a complex political equation.
Socialist deputies threaten to censor the government if the pension reform is not suspended. Stéphanie Rist will step aside behind the Prime Minister, Sébastien Lecornu, and the Minister of Public Accounts, Amélie de Montchalin, who will lead this battle. “My subject is not to be highlighted”she confesses. “I was aware of the very serious moment we were going through, and which would have consequences on people’s lives if this budget was not adopted. What mattered most to me was getting the job done. HAS”
The situation surrounding the hantavirus puts it, by force of circumstances, at the forefront. Interministerial meetings, press conferences, trips: the minister discovers unprecedented media exposure. “She does what we expect of a politician: to demonstrate transparency and make decisions that are as understandable as possible for the French, while considering scenarios in the event of developments.â€grants him his predecessor in Health, Yannick Neuder.
But finding himself in the spotlight at a risky moment also exposes him to criticism. His detractors are not gentle: “She’s well surrounded, but she’s someone who doesn’t work enough.”asserts a political personality who has seen her in action. “Communication with elected officials is not his strong point”judges another. “He is not someone who is very expressive in his relationships with elected officials. HAS”
The risk of missteps in the spotlight
“She has her finger on the seam vis-à-vis the Élysée and Matignon, which leads her to take less initiative. HAS”estimates Luc Duquesnel. Stéphanie Rist hires: “Some people, spontaneously, are more communicative than others. I believe that we must communicate when it becomes necessary. Everyone plays politics with what they are. HAS”
Is this exhibition a springboard or a trap, in the sensitive position where no less than ten ministers have succeeded one another since 2017? “When I arrived, I recruited my team and told them: “We don’t know how many days we’re going to stay. Maybe two days, maybe three weeks. Every day has to count.†Six months later, we remain in this state of mind. I think it’s fortunate not to know how long you’re going to stay, because you have to be efficient. HAS”
In the coming months, she will have to manage the hantavirus crisis as well as the social security budget, the last of the Macron era. She has no illusions. “When we arrive after nine ministers and it is the last year before a presidential election, we cannot transform everything. HAS” His support for 2027 is known: Gabriel Attal. But she is preparing for her future, according to an attentive observer.
“As long as Attal is popular, she won’t move. But if he screws up, she’ll leave. HAS” To join Édouard Philippe? “I was a deputy with Édouard Philippe in the majority, and I was able to work completely correctly as a parliamentarian. What matters to me is that the project carried out for the French gives hope as well as the truth.”she explains. Reply… without responding. It remains to be seen whether this sudden exposure will make her a lasting figure of Macronism or one more minister, in a long list of ephemeral tenants of Avenue de Ségur.
