It’s the story of a brutal fall, of shattered ambition. A strongman on the right in Seine-Saint-Denis for twenty years, Jean-Christophe Lagarde is now a downgraded baron. The deputy who was believed to be irremovable was swept away by the Mélenchonist wave which swept over the 93 last June. Beaten by Raquel Garrido and entangled in business, the boss of the UDI also had to resolve to leave, in October , the presidency of the party he had led since 2014.
He, whom the law on non-accumulation had forced to give up his scarf as mayor of Drancy in 2017 to his wife Aude Lagarde (UDI) is therefore only his 11th deputy. A year ago, Jean-Christophe Lagarde was considering a presidential candidacy. In politics, the ascent is often slow, the decline sometimes sudden.
Latest setback to date: the release, this Monday, of journalist Ève Szeftel. The former deputy – who should appeal – sued the author of the book “The Mayor and the Barbarians” for defamation, for remarks made during a radio interview. This book published in 2020 evoked the management of the town hall of Bobigny by the UDI and its supposed links with Islamists.
In September, he was also placed in police custody in the investigation into the false accusations of the “Point” against the couple of deputies LFI Raquel Garrido and Alexis Corbière. In this file, the journalist Aziz Zemouri had identified relatives of Jean-Christophe Lagarde as his sources. He filed a complaint for “breach of trust” against the elected official, who is not being prosecuted at this stage. But one of his former collaborators has been indicted.
Fake Garrido-Corbière affair: when the pseudo-Sana D. claims to be exploited (1/2)
On December 7, another legal meeting awaits him: the Paris court will deliver its deliberations in the case of the alleged fictitious employment of his mother-in-law, who was his parliamentary assistant. The prosecution requested a one-year suspended prison sentence and five years of ineligibility.
A sword of Damocles which partly explains his withdrawal at the head of the UDI. “There is always a correlation between the fate of a politician and the movement for which he is responsible,” observes Hervé Marseille, the senator from Hauts-de-Seine who succeeded him. “Jean-Christophe is smart enough to know whether he should stay or not,” adds Ludovic Toro. The mayor of Coubron, president of the UDI federation of 93, insists on the “provisional” nature of the decision of his “friend”, of which he praises “absolute loyalty”.
“As early as 2010, there was a buzz about him”
Bruno Beschizza, mayor (LR) of Aulnay-sous-Bois
Neither of them dwell on the troubles of Jean-Christophe Lagarde and the accusations of clientelism to which he is subject. “From 2010, when I was parachuted by Nicolas Sarkozy for the regional elections, there was a hum about him, as for many elected officials”, confides Bruno Beschizza (LR), who became mayor of Aulnay-sous-Bois. in 2014. To the chagrin of a Lagarde “who wanted to remain the strong man of the right in Seine-Saint-Denis and clearly expressed the fact that he did not want me to be elected, remembers the ex-policeman . He defended a UDI list against me, and assumed it. »
Politically close, the two men have not yet established any affinity. The former secretary general of the Synergy union, however, has an extensive network in the police house. “On all his legal cases, he never asked me for advice”, assures Bruno Beschizza, who thus recalls an interview in March 2021 in the prefecture. Jean-Christophe Lagarde had just spent a day in police custody after being arrested at night in possession of weapons at his home. “He was with me before and after the meeting and he completely compartmentalized this story,” he recalls. It’s all to his credit. Others do not hesitate to call me to find out if I have friends ready to help. »
“I won’t bet a penny that his career is over”
Philippe Dallier, president of LR 93
Described as a laborer, the elected Drancy is also “a man of his word”, assure in chorus Ludovic Toro and Bruno Beschizza. “But until the handshake, you have to check if he has not pricked your finger”, reports on condition of anonymity an elected official who practices it regularly. The same also relays his propensity to boast regularly of having well-informed contacts in the police.
Can Jean-Christophe Lagarde bounce back after such a year? His relatives insist on his capacity for resilience. “He’s a fighter, and the elected official who knows Seine-Saint-Denis best,” said the mayor of Coubron, who sees him representing himself in the legislative elections in the event of dissolution. Boss of LR in 93, Philippe Dallier speaks of a man “who works day and night (…) and I will not bet a kopeck on the fact that his career is over. He is not someone who lets himself be beaten down by difficulty. »
Hervé Marseille remembers the young Jean-Christophe Lagarde, in his twenties, determined to conquer the communist lands of 93: “And to be sincere, people were skeptical. He is one of those activists who have shown that nothing is inevitable. He is someone who has worked a lot, who has managed to bring people together. We got used to seeing him win, so some people no longer imagined seeing him lose. But that’s politics. »
“I am a patient person. And I’m someone who won’t be silenced”
Jean-Christophe Lagarde
Contacted on Monday, Jean-Christophe Lagarde did not wish to comment on the procedures in progress, although he is already considering “appealing” if the ineligibility was pronounced against him on December 7. Regarding the series of hard knocks in 2022, the elected official assures “not to be naive enough to believe in coincidence”, considering that he was simultaneously a target for the far left and the power in place.
“The fact of wanting to embody an independent center right had become very embarrassing and I see that it suits a lot of people that I was no longer able to exercise my functions as president of the UDI”, continues the one who believes that ‘Emmanuel Macron wanted to “make him beat” to rally the party to him.
The elected official considers “that in three months, we wanted to make [lui] the worst of what French politics can produce (…) When opposing forces have decided to lynch you and use all media means to do so, there is no point in explaining the truth because no one is ready to hear it. It is therefore justice that will be able to return it to me, but the emptiness of all this will be revealed. I am a patient person. And I am someone who will not be silenced. »
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