Gabriel Attal in Aveyron: between rural symbols and disruptive strategy

Gabriel Attal in Aveyron: between rural symbols and strategy of break with Macron At the end of a marathon day which took him from Mur-de-Barrez, in the north of the department, to Millau, Gabriel Attal chose the viaduct, “symbol of French success”, to end his entry into the campaign.

Welcomed by around fifty people from South Aveyron Рelected officials, business leaders and cultural actors Рthe former Prime Minister increased the number of exchanges, from M̩lanie Brunet (Cercle 12) to the representatives of Roquefort Carles, including Olivier Fabre, who came to explain the application of the Millavois glove factory to the intangible heritage of UNESCO, or the organizers of the Templar Festival.

“Find this proximity again”

An “owner’s tour” whose climax offered a breathtaking view of the steel and concrete giant, as if to seal, through images, a new political era. However, the choice of Aveyron, a rural department where Renaissance has only two deputies, is challenging.

“How can a former Prime Minister and MP for Hauts-de-Seine launch his campaign here?” The answer, Gabriel Attal, squeezed himself. “It is a department steeped in agriculture, which represents the most important part of the economy. It is also an industrial department. A department with a future. And a department which has invested a lot in renewable energies. There are plenty of reasons to come to Aveyron.”

But it is Patrick Vignal, his advisor and former Hérault Renaissance MP who speaks about it best, evoking here the need to “deconstruct this image of Macronie which is too metropolitan and not sufficiently anchored in the real country”.

“If he stays in Hauts-de-Seine, he’s a Parisian. If he comes here, we ask him why he comes? We asked him to come. To rediscover this proximity that we missed, and in front of this incredible building of a France which is recovering”, he explains. A risky bet: does it really embody rurality?

Gabriel Attal, to him, tempère : “We are here to come and meet people, to understand rurality.” Far, therefore, from the image of the “start-up Nation” often criticized by Macronism. However, it is difficult to erase with the stroke of a pen the career of this pure product of the Parisian system: former student of the Alsatian school, graduate of Sciences Po, advisor to the socialist minister Marisol Touraine before joining Emmanuel Macron. “We don’t invent a local anchor, it has to be built”, could we read on social networks as soon as the campaign was launched.

However, the strategy seems clear: take inspiration from Jacques Chirac in 1995, the Corrèze outsider facing Balladur, and “hit the cows’ ass” – according to the famous expression – for “de-Parisianize France”. A way, too, of marking his break with the Macron legacy, of which he was nevertheless one of the most faithful relays. “The challenge is to bridge the gap between the old and the new world”insists Patrick Vignal.

After only five months in Matignon, the dissolution of the National Assembly in June 2024 sealed its break with the Élysée. Since then, Attal has taken control of Renaissance, multiplying divisive proposals to show its difference.

Millau, showcase of a France “which is recovering”

On site, in front of the viaduct, the candidate took part in media sequences, documented almost live by his teams. After an aligot and sausage shared in the middle of the day on the Carladez, he took advantage of the viewpoint of the A75 motorway area for a postcard session, surrounded by economic players in the region.

“Here, we meet people”, validates the political advisor, as if to respond to criticism of his lack of proximity. But Gabriel Attal, a “comms pro” according to his detractors, seems to be banking on audacity.

“What crystallizes in public opinion is the ability of the candidates to get involved, carry the country and create a dynamic.”concludes his campaign director, Maxime Cordier. Between the viaduct and Hauts-de-Seine, the candidate has found his setting. It remains to find its audience.