François-Xavier Bellamy: A Sailing Trip Amidst Political Tension

While the leader of the list, Les Républicains (LR), is moving to leave the port, the European initiative is still at the dock. As if the cousin, Gaspard, was in his place on the bridge, who helped him and was responsible for finding the beast, a 13-meter veteran covered in purple.

Together, they have sailed in British waters, cruising the Mediterranean coast for several seasons. The two members of a team of seven to ten friends, fond of “nav'”, taking a week of adventure every summer at the helm of a rented boat. A habit that became a habit, dating back to their student years. “The good thing is to discover different coasts,” said the two men from Loire-Atlantique. Plus, you don’t have all the shipping or handling costs. »

A memory of a storm

Prudence is the mother of safety and the activity is far from without risks. Like this night in August 2022, when the wind picked up suddenly and the sky was streaked with lightning. Threatening to break the boat on the rocks of the Riou islands which are near the city of Phocaean, where the team was anchored. “We were scared,” said the candidate. We were woken up at 3am by a completely unexpected storm, which resulted in deaths. The SNSM [les sauveteurs en mer] went over We managed to bring the boat back on our own right in front of the Marseille marina [normalement réservée aux yachts]. We didn’t care, we were dead. When we called the rental company to let him know we had arrived, he asked us: “Do you own the boat? Well done!” He had lost two, including a new one. » A moment, then says: “We almost died. » Information from a third thief, a member of the expedition: “That night, François-Xavier saved us »

Meeting with the border police, in Menton (Alpes-Maritimes), with MEP Nadine Morano and MEP Christelle D’Intorni (right).

Match of Paris / © Pascal Rostain

A few dozen meters from the Toulon marina, the naval base where the “Mistral”, a helicopter carrier of the French Navy, sleeps. “I gave lessons there,” slipped the associate professor of philosophy, a trained teacher. I spent a month there, in 2014 or 2015.” Confession, almost regret: “I love the navy. If I hadn’t been chosen [eurodéputé en 2019], I would be a keeper. »

By taking on this spring cabotage with Paris Match, François-Xavier Bellamy – “Fix” to those who knew him – took a risk. “Intimacy is not my thing,” admits the elected official, who is more famous for his flawless mastery of highly technical files than for his spills. He barely confirms, with lip service, his recent engagement to a woman who works “in the maritime industry”. “It is right to preserve itself. He watches over his secret garden more than any other in the political world,” defends the president of the senators LR, Bruno Retailleauwhich he is close to.

In 2019, Bellamy is a choice that party leaders consider unusual to say the least

It prevents. Now is not the time for modesty. Once hegemonic in France and, by extension, among the French delegations in the European Parliament, the traditional right is under threat in Strasbourg. Credited with between 6.5 and 8% of voting intentions, LR is dancing dangerously around the terrible limit of 5% below which no one will cross the doors of the European Parliament after 9 June.

An unsustainable fall that started in 2017 and happened a second time five years ago. When most of the French found the youthful face, porcelain complexion and crystal blue eyes of candidate Bellamy. Then at the age of 33, this deputy of the city of Versailles, was published to the most informed by his essays – “The disinherited” (ed. Plon, 2014), “Demeure” (ed. Grasset, 2018) – accused Laurent Wauquiezat the time president of LR, de led the European battle. A choice considered at least unusual by the party leaders. Who did not hesitate to insult the thirty-year-old man for his previous positions on abortion, his links with the Manif pour in as well as the political knowledge his

Together with Bruno Retailleau, president of the LR elders, in Sables-d’Olonne, February 5.

Paris match / © Julien Faure

Until the disaster of May 26, 2019. A sad score of almost 8.5%. Bitterness sometimes surrounds contempt. “It’s so cute, Bellamy,” he said with a smile, Jordan Bardella, crowned with his first place – already – at the end of the vote. Imput, moreover, the failure of the philosopher to a lack of bite. It was, above all, one of the many beginnings of the decline of the training, marked by the resignation after Laurent Wauquiez who was responsible for the defeat, and recorded by the 4.8% of Valérie Pécresse at the last presidential election.

But five years have passed. Paradoxically, as his party’s electoral base shifted, so did Bellamy. Fits like a second skin on an MEP suit, which was previously seen as too big for his skinny shoulders. Will his sea escapes have any effect? Bruno Retailleau spins the metaphor: “Cicero said: “If you have a library and a garden, you have everything you need.” François-Xavier’s garden is the sea.” Even in his choice to sit on the Fisheries Commission in Strasbourg, as well as his role in industry, research and energy.

It’s hard to beat. Bellamy is a class act

A special feature of the Reconquest!

Despite the small delegation of eight elected officials it chairs, “FXB” has become an integral part of the European Parliament. Standing against the Green Deal and its text on “nature renewal”, publicly confronting its contradictions with Chancellor Olaf Scholz, taking the lead in the re- out within the European People’s Party (EPP) against the second mandate of Ursula von der Leyen, despite coming from the same benches, at the head of the Commission. “I saw the respect he inspires in the eyes of the other MEPs they met in the corridors of Parliament,” continued the elected official from Vendée. It is known and recognized, and that is what establishes its validity today. »

“Bellamy, he’s a fake nice guy,” snapped tenor Lepenist, suddenly signing a kind of recognition. So Bardella’s ridicule gave way to respect. “François-Xavier Bellamy is a brilliant, talented man. A man with conviction,” the president of the RN admitted privately. “He is the morphetype of a good, honest and intellectual boy,” said a celebrity of Reconquest!. He is hard to beat. Bellamy is a class. »

François-Xavier has skills and knowledge that I do not have

David Lisnard

“As Bellamy was not my choice five years ago, it was Laurent’s bet [Wauquiez] which I found dangerous and dangerous, admits LR pundit, as much as I today appreciate. »

However, his record as his place as number two in the party, which Éric Ciotti handed over at the end of 2022, did not guarantee that he would be reinstated. Not offensive enough, voters too similar to that of Marion Maréchal at Reconquête!, lack of infamy… We had to wait, suffer from the names drawn in the media. Stop playing matchmaker. François-Xavier Bellamy himself recommended to his friend, the mayor of Cannes, David Lisnard, to take up the torch. The person involved refused: “François-Xavier has skills and knowledge that I do not have. »

2027 in sight

The councilor saw the MEP in action. He, the leader of the list and the president of the central region of Normandy, Hervé Morin, established a regular meeting every two months three years ago. A type of quick address, organized over the course of a day, where the three meet seven to eight experts on a specific subject. This, in order to “increase skills, but also to define a strong and current corpus of today’s right” due to the presidential and legislative elections of 2027.

Finally appointed at the end of January, against the backdrop of Rachida Dati rallying behind Emmanuel Macron, the philosopher must show a new skill: playing the contortionist to bridge the gap between the Renaissance and a list Release Jordan Bardella. And there is the risk of Zemmourist, which also goes up at 6.5%, which could be taking away valuable points for him in these times of vote shortage. Otherwise there will always be time to think about the fleet.