PARIS — Michel Barnier is back in elected office nine months after being voted out as France’s prime minister.
The 74 year old scored a convincing victory Sunday in a by-election in Paris for the French parliament, becoming the new MP for the capital’s second electoral district — one of the wealthiest in the city and home to the Eiffel Tower.
Barnier received 62.6 percent of the vote, defeating his Socialist rival, Frédérique Bredin, a former French youth and sports minister, according to official figures published by the city of Paris.
The EU’s former Brexit negotiator will sit with members of his party Les Républicains in the National Assembly, in a conservative group that now holds 50 of the French lower house’s 577 seats.
As prime minister, Barnier led a minority government backed by Les Républicains and a coalition of parties supporting President Emmanuel Macron. He fell three months into the job, after left-wing and far-right groups successfully passed a no-confidence motion against his government.
After his win Sunday, Barnier said he would act with “loyalty and freedom” within his political group and would “continue to support working together with all responsible political outfits,” stressing the need to find avenues for policymaking as France faces nearly unprecedented levels of political instability.
Les Républicains are currently debating whether they should take part in new Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu’s government after joining the past two unsuccessful administrations.
The race to represent Paris’ second district took an unexpected turn this summer when French Culture Minister Rachida Dati — also a member of Les Républicains and a local official in the district — signaled she might mount a competing bid. Dati later abandoned her plans after Les Républicains pledged to back her in her campaign to become mayor of Paris next March.
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