What are his real ambitions? : the spectacular entrance of new Carnac mayor Alexandre Lanoë into the local political landscape

This is what we call making a grand entrance. Still unknown in the Auray region a month ago, before the first round of municipal elections, the new mayor of Carnac, Alexandre Lanoë (40), wasted no time in making a name for himself beyond the town. He simply fulfilled one of his main campaign promises by announcing the suspension of the construction work on the future Museum of Prehistory, shortly after taking office on Saturday, March 28. This is a project costing €16.83 million (excluding taxes) that he believes is too significant to be solely funded by his municipality, even though it is financed 50% by the state, the Region, the Department, and the intermunicipalities Auray Quiberon Terre Atlantique (Aqta) and Golfe du Morbihan Vannes Agglo (GMVA). Clearly caught off guard by this announcement, all parties involved expressed concern over this “decision made without consultation,” which questions one of the cornerstones of the UNESCO World Heritage inscription of the megaliths, approved last fall.

A Political Life Before Morbihan

This initial strong measure may surprise some, coming from a newly elected mayor in the area who identifies himself as a man of culture. However, Alexandre Lanoë had a political life outside Morbihan. Born in Laval (Mayenne) in 1986, he allegedly caught the political bug in 2001, after attending a meeting with his parents for the mayor of the city at the time, François d’Aubert. With a Master’s degree in Public Affairs Law, he interned at Sciences Po within his office before running on his list in 2008. Finally elected in 2014 on the list of his successor François Zocchetto, he became at the young age of 28, the youngest member of the new Departmental Council of Mayenne. Former president of Mayenne Culture, the cultural agency of the Department, and vice-president of the Laval racetrack, known as a “lover of horse races,” he married into a family of Carnac merchants in 2019. He left his position as head of the Sea City of Cherbourg (Manche) in February, but remains an employee of the company Edeis, which also manages port and airport facilities, such as the Lorient airport.

A Thorn in the Side of the “Goulardians”

The election of Alexandre Lanoë, a former member of the UMP under Jacques Chirac, and then of the micro-party Agir under Franck Riester, disrupts the established order on the right in Morbihan. Advised by Michel Grall, who was mayor of Carnac from 2004 to 2010 and deputy from 2007 to 2012, the candidate during the campaign highlighted not only the construction costs but also the annual operating costs of the future museum, estimated at over €1 million, pointing out that no operational funding had been decided yet.

A thorn in the side of the “Goulardians” David Lappartient (successor of François Goulard at the helm of the Department), David Robo (mayor of Vannes and president of GMVA), and Olivier Lepick (president of the association Paysages de Mégalithes), who have been accustomed to working together on the dossier for over ten years. This even raises concern among the elected officials of the area, with whom he will have to work, especially within the new intermunicipality Aqta, officially established on Friday in Landévant. “I wait to see what his true ambitions are,” wonders one of them, who promises him a vice-president position. When a re-elected mayor as of the first round is surprised by the methods of the newcomer: “In his place, I would have taken the time to consult everyone before announcing the halt of the museum.”

The interested party is expected to speak on the subject soon and respond to the numerous criticisms he is already facing.