Retired from political life for almost ten years, the former minister of François Fillon announced this Monday that she was joining the candidate Horizons for the presidential election. If Nathalie Kosciusko-Morizet promises to be “a candidate for nothing”, those close to Édouard Philippe are wondering what happens next.
A surprise return. Disappeared from the radar for almost a decade and following a bitter defeat in the legislative elections in 2017, former minister Nathalie Kosciusko-Morizet returns to get her messages across. Having left to work in the United States for several years, the former spokesperson for Nicolas Sarkozy during the 2012 presidential campaign, announced this Tuesday on France Inter to support Édouard Philippe.
“I think he has this ability to bring together, to bring together in calm, to bring together in dialogue,” said the woman who had also been a right-wing candidate for mayor of Paris in 2014.
“Very good news”
Relatively discreet in recent weeks to the point of worrying some of those close to him, this rallying has all the makings of very good news for the mayor of Le Havre, a presidential candidate for months. His main rivals from the right and the center, Gabriel Attal and Bruno Retailleau, for their part, have rather created a vacuum around them.
During his meeting in Paris last Saturday, the boss of Renaissance did not have any heavyweights in the front ranks: neither Emmanuel Macron of course with whom relations are frosty, even less Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu or the President of the National Assembly Yaël Braun-Pivet. As for the number 1 of the Republicans who is organizing a big meeting on June 20, Xavier Bertrand and Bruno Retailleau have already made it known that they will not be present.
The entry into the dance of Nathalie Kosciusko-Morizet, nicknamed in the political world “NKM”, is therefore enough to make Édouard Philippe smile. In the ranks of Horizons, we don’t hide our pleasure.
“This is very good news, especially since it really supported the right on ecology and it is important to show that we intend to continue to move forward in this area,” explains Florence Berthout, mayor of the 5th arrondissement of Paris and national secretary of the movement.
The profile of the former minister, rather iconoclastic on the right, ticks valuable boxes for the former tenant of Matignon with her passage through the State Secretariat for Digital and then through the Ministry of Ecology. After his departure from political life, the former rising figure of the LR became a senior executive at CapGemini before working in an investment fund and then finally arriving in the technology sector in recent months.
In short, a rare journey in the entourage of Édouard Philippe, rather surrounded by mayors or former ministerial collaborators. The former head of government himself spent his entire career in the administration with the exception of a quick detour by the nuclear giant Areva.
“The support of Nathalie Kosciusko-Morizet gives us a little oxygen and it shows that we are capable of bringing together widely,” underlines party spokesperson Arnaud Péricard.
“A free electron”
The arrival of the ex-minister of François Fillon in the race could indeed signal the start of the rallies for Édouard Philippe. Without officially supporting him, the former minister and boss of the right Jean-François Copé explained at the beginning of May on BFMTV that he was “best placed” to represent the right in 2027. Laurent Wauquiez, doubtful about the candidacy of Bruno Retailleau, could just as well end up joining him.
But behind the good news of Nathalie Kosciusko-Morizet’s rallying, some are wondering. Is she hoping for a position as spokesperson in her campaign team and in the event of victory, a ministerial job or even an arrival at Matignon?
“I doubt she went down into the pool just to please us. She obviously has something in her head,” observes a Horizons deputy.
The former candidate for mayor of Paris nevertheless swore this Tuesday on France Inter, she is “a candidate for nothing”.
“If it’s true, so much the better, because it’s a free electron that’s quite difficult to digest,” says someone close to Édouard Philippe.
Simple support?
On the right, “NKM” has not only made friends. When she was in charge of Ecology under François Fillon, the minister often had to fight against her own camp on environmental issues. She was also one of the rare right-wing deputies who abstained on the law on marriage for all at a time when almost the entirety of her camp was fiercely opposed to it.
Several of her outings also aroused mockery when she was a candidate for mayor of Paris in 2014. “Moments of grace” in the metro which she considers “a place of charm”, cigarette break with homeless people… The press as well as part of the right but also the Parisian left had it then pinned.
“Let’s say that she has her own style and that Édouard Philippe is not necessarily someone who seeks to surround himself with fanciful people,” says an elected official close to Édouard Philippe.
At Horizons, we are now counting on it above all to enrich the candidate’s program on the subjects of artificial intelligence and more broadly digital technology which are, until now, little mentioned by the candidate. Will the role suit NKM? Impossible to say. When contacted, Nicolas Sarkozy’s former spokesperson did not respond to our requests.
