Times are tough in politics: in 2024, Montpellier MPs have caught the wave

Laurence Cristol, Patrick Vignal et Irène Tolleret ne siègent plus à l’Assemblée nationale ou au Parlement européen. Et ils ne sont pas les seuls. Midi Libre – JEAN-MICHEL MART et Michael esdourrubailh

THEY TURNED THE PAGE IN 2024. The political crisis has not spared several Montpellier parliamentarians, particularly the Macronists, on the front line. But it is well known: in politics, turning the page does not always mean that the book is finished.

Among the Montpellier personalities who turned a page in 2024, the deputies are in a good place, victims of the political crisis that began with the announcement of the dissolution of the National Assembly.
Last July, four local MPs left their sashes there: Macronists Laurence Cristol, Patrick Vignal and Patricia Miralles, as well as Insoumis Sébastien Rome.

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Patrick Vignal: “It puts you back in your place”

“It feels good, you felt like you were Zorro, it puts you back in your place, smiles Patrick Vignal, who was in his third term. I'm going back to university, to Sciences Po Paris.” This political beast remains a regular on TV sets, from BFM to CNews, and finds time for himself. “This morning, I went to buy paint to repaint one of my apartments, I also did three hours of weight training. I'm in shape, and I no longer sleep with my phone under my pillow!”
In short, Patrick Vignal is alive again. But he doesn't hide it:“I'm not going to say that I won't go back, that would be lying. I don't know. But not in the municipal elections, nor in Montpellier, nor in Lunel, I'm not interested.”

Laurence Cristol: “I'd like to finish the job”

Laurence Cristol is also one of our elected representatives who gave up her seat as deputy. She admits, “I had a hard time with it, especially because of the abrupt interruption of the text on the end of life that we had worked on a lot“. However, the former mayor of Saint-Clément remains very present on the ground, “because I like it. And then in politics, you never know what tomorrow will bring so I'm not going to say anything but if there is an opportunity to finish the job, yes, I would like to finish it.”For now, and starting this January, she is returning full-time to her activities as a geriatric oncology doctor at the ICM, which she had never abandoned.

“Finishing the job”, Laurence Cristol dreams of it, Patricia Miralles lives it. Dismissed in July, she did not hide her (pleasant) surprise when she joined the Bayrou government on Christmas Eve.

Irène Tolleret: “I no longer have the strength”

The former first deputy mayor, Fanny Dombre-Coste has also turned a page, municipal, but to better immerse herself in the National Assembly. No, in fact, if there must be an elected official who has truly turned the page in 2024, it is Irène Tolleret. The former European deputy left her place without regret to return to her vineyards on Pic Saint-Loup. “I don't have the strength anymore, it goes into things that don't really suit me, she explained at the time of not running again.

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