• Since the pension reform, the tension is palpable between Elisabeth Borne and Emmanuel Macron, who do not hesitate to prick each other, in a mixture of public statements and off.
  • How to behave when your boss sabotages the work presented? Even more so when the latter is President of the Republic?
  • Elements of answer with Jean-Marc Ayrault, former Prime Minister under François Hollande, Michel Lascombe, specialist in constitutional law and Françoise Briel, founder of a consulting firm in recruitment.

It offered itself a break nearly 10,000 kilometers from the Parisian torments. For her first overseas trip since her appointment to Matignon, Elisabeth Borne opted for Reunion Island, from Thursday to Saturday. Working breakfast, factory visit, meeting with local actors... If the program does not really look like a tourist getaway, it offered a breath to the resident of Matignon, at the end of a trying political sequence.

Because, since the passage in force of the 49-3 on the pension reform, the resentment of Emmanuel Macron towards it continues to grow. With a palpable consequence: the word of the head of government was disavowed at the top of the State. A striking example. Elisabeth Borne maintains that she will no longer use the 49-3 outside the budget text. "I am not responsible for the interviews with AFP of the prime minister," the president said.

A political situation, certainly, but similar to the vicissitudes of corporate life, when your hierarchical superior torpedoes your presentation. It can be terrible for the person who is reframed by his superior, especially in public, it takes a lot of resilience to hold, analyzes Françoise Briel, founder of a consulting firm in recruitment. The superior who decides everything, all alone, is a great classic of management, it's just what you shouldn't do."

A question of "leeway"

So, what attitude to adopt when your "superior" is President of the Republic? Former tenant of Matignon (2012-2014), Jean-Marc Ayrault lived from the inside this strange relationship between the two heads of the executive. "In my mind, the president must be the bearer of the main orientations, the main political lines. The Prime Minister is the one who runs the machine. The president must give his head of government enough leeway, but this is not always the case. In my personal experience, I have experienced both scenarios."

François Hollande's first prime minister gives two examples. Confidence, first, during a pension reform in 2013. Then, mistrust, after an idea of tax reform, not supported by the Elysee. Press articles, SMS exchanges, communication problems... The episode puts a chill between Matignon and François Hollande, as evoked by Brigitte Ayrault, his wife, in Un chemin de femme (2021).

"That there are tensions and different approaches, it is not abnormal, we should not necessarily be offended, tempers the former mayor of Nantes. But when there is tension, the subject must be discussed in complete transparency. Without that, there is no trust. After that, it's still politics, it's not personal."

A department head at Matignon

Politics, precisely, Elisabeth Borne is not known to be a fervent supporter. More technical than instinctive, the former head of the RATP enjoys a reputation as a boss, "woman of file more than communication", depicts Françoise Briel, before specifying: "a real manager surrounds himself with people more competent than him and leaves them space. He relies on them and trusts them. There, we have the impression that Macron surrounds himself so as to be the only one in the light."



The executive tandem of the Fifth Republic has experienced upheavals in its way of functioning. As Michel Lascombe, a specialist in constitutional law, reminds us, Jacques Chirac's second term marks a turning point, with the concomitance of the presidential and legislative elections. "Since then, prime ministers have become collaborators, as Sarkozy said about Fillon. It's even worse. They are only responsible for domesticating Parliament. When there is no possibility to domesticate it, as now, it goes wrong, "decrypts our expert.

"I am not here simply to administer the country," the Prime Minister told Le Monde during one of her rare attempts at emancipation from the Elysee. "She's a very good technician, but she has no room for manoeuvre, she can't get rid of a minister, for example. Not having room for manoeuvre has often been the case for second prime ministers, appointed so as not to overshadow a president for re-election. Except that there, Borne was chosen from the beginning, recalls Michel Lascombe. She's a department head, she's there to work, it's almost more thankless than being a collaborator. A collaborator, you work with her, we ask her opinion." By her own admission, Élisabeth Borne considers that she is on a "fixed-term contract" at Matignon. It remains to be seen whether it will be renewed again.


  • Politics
  • Elisabeth Borne
  • Emmanuel Macron