In 2017, a profound shake-up took place in the National Assembly, driven by the mass arrival of elected representatives from La République en Marche (LREM), a party that had campaigned against the ‘professionalisation of politics’. This change heralded the advent of a radically different political class. Five years on, has this change been confirmed? Based on a comparative analysis of the educational, professional
and political careers of the 577 MPs elected in June 2022 and those elected in 2017, this original study provides an in-depth picture of the 16th legislature.
It highlights that several decade-long trends which had been interrupted in 2017 are once again very much in evidence. From the perspective of social background, the National Assembly remains unrepresentative of the French population, but it is less elitist than it was previously, and there has been a limited return of members from the working classes to its ranks. The political careers of the current members resemble those seen before the upheaval of 2017. Whilst gender parity is imperfect – particularly as the number of female MPs has fallen slightly – a process of erasing gender differences nevertheless appears to be underway.
With this return to the previous state of affairs, the 2022 National Assembly thus marks the end of the ‘new world’ so often discussed in recent years.
