François-Xavier Bellamy, vice-president, Othman Nasrou, secretary-general... Bruno Retailleau appoints his inner circle to lead the Republicans

The new president of LR declared, in an interview with "Le Parisien" on Wednesday, that he had proposed the vice-presidency of the party to Laurent Wauquiez, whom he largely defeated on Sunday in an internal election for the presidency.

In an interview with Le Parisien , the new president of the LR party, Bruno Retailleau , announced the appointment of François-Xavier Bellamy as vice-president of the Republicans and that of Othman Nasrou, his campaign director, as secretary-general. The latter replaces Annie Genevard, the current Minister of Agriculture, who had expressed her wish to leave this post.

He claims to have proposed the party's vice-presidency to Laurent Wauquiez, whom he defeated by a landslide on Sunday with nearly three-quarters of the vote in an internal election. "What I understand is that he prefers to focus on his role as president of the group in the National Assembly. In this capacity, he will be involved in all governing bodies, as I was when I was president of the group in the Senate," the minister explained.

Two close associates of Haute-Loire MP Laurent Wauquiez are included in this first round of appointments: the mayor of Valence, Nicolas Daragon, and the vice-president of the LR deputies, Justine Gruet, who will both serve as deputy secretaries general. Agnès Evren, a senator from Paris, has been appointed party spokesperson.