Xavier Bertrand, the ex-insurance salesman who ‘smashed the jaws’ of the French far-right

BRETEUIL, France — Xavier Bertrand is used to being underestimated: The former insurance salesman has been belittled for most of his life.

Now he may be on his way to disrupting France’s next presidential election.

On Sunday, Bertrand — a two-time minister who says he was sneered at because he was a “provincial oaf, who’d never been to an elite school” — cruised to victory in the first round of a regional election in northern France, knocking out rivals from Marine Le Pen’s National Rally and President Emmanuel Macron’s La République en Marche (LREM).

In a hardscrabble region that has become a bastion for the far-right, Bertrand’s crushing victory over the National Rally rival dealt a blow to Le Pen, proving that her allies could be defeated by a conservative. And it forced the rest of the French political class to take note of Bertrand, whose bid for the presidency, announced in March, has until now failed to garner much attention.

But with a victory in his pocket, Bertrand — who as an MP was nicknamed “floc floc” because of the sound his rubber shoes made on the marbled floors of the National Assembly — now looks like he could create trouble for either frontrunner in the presidential race.

Macron and Le Pen are neck and neck in the polls ahead of the presidential election next year. While Bertrand’s chances of beating them are thin, he could create trouble by peeling off enough voters to stop them from reaching the runoff round.

On Sunday evening, when the regional election results were announced, Bertrand took no prisoners.

“We smashed the jaws of the National Front, their inflammatory words and pointless proposals,” he said.

Polls suggest Bertrand would get 14 percent of the vote in the presidential election, less than Le Pen and Macron, and be knocked out at the first round. But could a resounding victory in the north change the narrative? 

Family man

At a meeting in the village of Breteuil in the Hauts-de-France region, Bertrand worked his audience with the confidence of a seasoned politician, reeling off a list of local measures to boost jobs and tackle crime. His brand is conservatism with a welfare twist.

He also took a dig at technocrats who “are walking calculators but can’t add up” and at l’ENA, the elite administrative school that produced most of France’s presidents, including Macron. It’s an institution that teaches everything except “common sense,” Bertrand told his audience.  

Breteuil is Yellow Jackets territory and Bertrand knows it. In 2018, locals in hi-vis vests were demonstrating against rising taxes in the parking lot of the nearby supermarket. “People you know,” Bertrand told the audience.

Bertrand’s secret weapon is exactly what made him a loser in Paris. His short stature, his past as a provincial mayor, his low-brow cultural tastes. Voters say they can relate to him.

“He is a simple man, close to the people,” said Sylvie Debuysere, a funeral parlor owner. “There are two worlds in France: The world of the elite and the rest. He speaks to the rest.”

“I didn’t believe in him when he was a candidate the first time round,” said Lionel Gauchy, who owns a small car parts factory. “But he keeps his word, and we saw him out in the field every day.”

Ahead of the presidential election, Bertrand hopes he can tap into France’s dissatisfaction with its elites.

National Rally in retreat

But Bertrand’s victory may have less to do with his popular brand of conservatism and more to do with what’s happening inside the National Rally. In the nearby village of Montdidier, the far-right party’s vote has melted away, from 43 percent in the last regional election to 22 percent last Sunday.

“People vote for Marine Le Pen for the presidential election, but not for the local elections,” said business owner Lionel Swaenepoel. “We don’t know the little guys running as candidates.”

There is also unease with the direction the party has been taking.

“People are fed up, that’s why they didn’t vote,” said Swaenepoel. “Marine Le Pen isn’t aggressive enough, unlike her father. We don’t give a fig about her party manifesto, about her economic program, we want her to kick the migrants out.”

“She is moving away from the fundamental values of the party,” said retired electrician Jean-Pascal Devaux. “When I listen to her, she sounds almost left-wing and she’s far too soft on crime and on immigration.”

Since her defeat to Macron in 2017, Le Pen has been seeking to bring the party more into the mainstream, dumping unpopular policies and toning down her attacks on Islam and immigration in order to woo traditional conservative voters.

But the risk was always that this shift would put off the historic base of the party. If true, this is good news for Bertrand, although it is also possible they will return to Le Pen come crunch time.

“There are reasons why they are falling out of love [with Le Pen],” said Bertrand confidently. “But maybe it’s also because we deliver.”

“And there are lots of studies that show that the French don’t want the Macron vs. Le Pen duel,” he added.

Bertrand certainly doesn’t want it.

Conservative leadership race

Bertrand first has to convince his camp, the center-right Les Républicains (LR), that he is the right man for the job. Many do not like him, in particular his former boss Nicolas Sarkozy, who still holds a lot of influence over the conservative camp. Bertrand insists he is running as a candidate whatever happens in an attempt to squash any competing bids within the conservative party.

With only 10 months to go until the election, the LR is dawdling over whether to hold primaries or let party grandees chose a candidate. Rivals include Valérie Pécresse, who is running for the presidency of the greater Paris region, and the senator Bruno Retailleau.

“Floc floc” still has a long way to go before he can challenge the two favorites in the race. For a start there’s the second round of the regional election coming up this weekend.

But there’s one twist he will particularly savor on the treacherous path to the Elysée: On Sunday, Macron, officially a resident of Le Touquet in the Hauts-de-France, is expected to vote for Bertrand.