In 2012 my wife and I celebrated our anniversary in Paris; ever since, I have idly followed French politics, and as such have made a number of predictions. If you idly follow this blog you’ll recall some of them, but here’s a recap in case you don’t.
In my post le diabolique Manu I anticipated how conflict between his right-wing opponents would hand an easy win to Macron in the 2022 election.
By conflict I was referring to the Marion Anne Perrine “Marine” Le Pen versus Éric Zemmour thing, and how Zemmour’s affair with ‘political advisor’ Sarah Knafo suggested the gloomy Gauls just wanted some le scandale in their lives.
So when I read that Marion Maréchal scandalously had abandoned aunt Marine in favour of Zemmour, I had to give the man props for punching way above his weight.
Zemmy scandalously abandons his wife of forty years for new totty AND grooms the rising star of French politics to his cause?
Vive l’Empereur!
Two birds in the hand (Sarah and Marion) could definitely beat one in the bush (Marine), but could they also beat Manu?
Quite literally la belle et la bête.
Nope.
Next, in my post ‘Who is Sarah Knafo‘ I argued that both Zemmour and Le Pen needed Marion by their side.
Instead, Zemmy quit the race and threw his lot in with Marine Le Pen leaving Merion out in the cold. Fast forward to June 2024, and Zemmy boots Marion from the party because she’s pushing votes to her aunt.
Hmm, is that rapprochement I can smell, or political opportunism?
Once described as the “devil’s grand daughter” and “the glamourous face of fascism” Marion wilderness years were gainfully spent sharpening her profile as head of the IDL (Identité-Libertés) party.
The who, you say?
Exactly.
How did the belle comme un coeur and “most interesting politician” in the French civic theatre become so politically sidelined?
But blessed is she who waits, because I wake to news today that Marine Le Pen has been convicted and sentenced for embezzlement, and is now ineligible to contest the 2027 election.
Which immediately saw Marion front the cameras, pout and froth in faux outrage.
Now, quickly count to twenty, because before I finish typing this the announcement of Marine’s successor … ?
Oh stop pretending bitch. With Steve Bannon as her secret numbers man, what on Earth can stop MMLP now that MAPL is out of the way?
But beware. To quote Elizabeth Day of The Guardian, after interviewing Marion in 2012:
Some of her opinions have the sheen of plausibility. She is not unlikable. But the tone of her answers suggests a more disturbing set of beliefs at play beneath the surface: a whiff of something rotten at the core of her politics and a sense that the world is made up of people who can be divided easily into “us” or “them”.
It’s exactly this right-wing brand of popular rottenness that will impel Marion Maréchal-Le Pen to challenge Emmanuel Jean-Michel Frédéric Macron in 2027.
Like Trump and other bigots, racists, warmongers and fascists everywhere, it’s also why she will win.