Etienne Blanc, candidate for mayor of Lyon and right hand man of Wauquiez

Etienne Blanc (The Republicans), Laurent Wauquiez's right-hand man in the region, made his bid for mayor of Lyon official Wednesday, October 24, embarking on the 2020 municipal battle, where he will face the former minister of the interior. Gerard Collomb. "Yes I am a candidate. I agreed to lead a large rally list that goes from the Modem to the Republicans, with a broad opening on the civil society ", says the first vice-president of the regional council Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes in a daily interview Le Figaro.

"We have to succeed in Lyon what we have achieved in the region. That's what will win us. Everyone feels that there is a strong expectation of alternation in Lyon ", adds the one who is also since 1991 mayor of Divonne-les-Bains, a common Ain close to Switzerland.

Mr. Blanc, who wants "To gather around a big project for Lyon" said to have done "The choice to run exclusively for the mayor of Lyon". He will not be a candidate for the metropolis where the major development projects of the agglomeration are managed.

No primary right

He who made his debut in politics under the aegis of Charles Millon also indicates that there will be no primary to designate the candidate of the right, as was the case in 2013. "The 2013 primary seeded the seed of the division and led to a catastrophic result. We decided to do without it. In Lyon, the right has gone through 17 years of disagreements. Now it's time to add up », he says, adding that Laurent Wauquiez, Republican boss, will be "Obviously to [ses] sides ".

But he wants to clarify: "It's him, me it's me. We do not have the same personality, not the same ambitions. He did not encourage or discourage mehe says in an interview on local TV TLM.

Between Rhône and Saone, the battle of the municipal will not be for him a long calm river, including in his own camp. Uncertainties remain on the ambitions of elected representatives of the local right, including that of Pascal Blache, various mayor right of the crested 6th district which has created its own micro-party and does not hide thinking of the mayor of Lyon.

The legacy of Michel Noir

In coveting the mayor's chair, Etienne Blanc wants to help the opposition to turn the page of internal quarrels that have lasted since the time of Michel Noir. The then mayor of Lyon divided his party (the RPR) by breaking with Jacques Chirac. He had created his own movement, the ephemeral New Democracy, before his involvement in the affair of his son-in-law Pierre Botton.

Since then, the opposition is struggling. In 2008, Dominique Perben, a "Parachuted" like M. Blanc, he had broken his teeth when he landed at Lyon as in a conquered country. In the meantime, an extraordinary municipal council is being held on November 5 to elect a new mayor for the city, a post that Gérard Collomb will seek.

Etienne Blanc wants to be confident about Baron Collomb who, according to him, "Will know his first difficulties. He is in delicacy with the socialists and the ecologists, his former allies. But also with some of the centrists who did not appreciate his governance at the metropolis of Lyon, and part of the Republic on the march who did not understand his resignation from the government ". It remains for Etienne Blanc to propose a program that will seduce the Lyonnais: his campaign, he explains, will focus on "The quality of life in our metropolis".