French left plans to create a 'progressive international' to fight against the far right
Hoping to rekindle that era, a network of French elected officials – MPs, MEPs, mayors and senators – is about to embark on a tour, through an initiative called La Digue ("The Dam"), to meet with political leaders, intellectuals and civil society figures. Their aim: to ask them "how they resist" and to build connections, ahead of the possibility of the RN coming to power. "Nothing seems to stop the momentum of identitarian neofascists. The forces opposite us are allied and powerful. They sustain the narratives they instill against critical thinking, science and everything that makes us democrats," said, on Tuesday, May 20, left-wing independent MP Pouria Amirshahi (formerly a Socialist, who now sits with the Greens in the Assemblée), who spearheaded the initiative and had once taken part in the alter-globalization movement.
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Bored of your beach read? Dive into these politicians' steamy novels
They say that inspiration comes from the most unexpected places. But who would have thought that a public office setting could inspire romantic – and oftentimes dark and even forbidden- erotic fantasies? Those politicians from Spain, France, Austria or the UK used their own experience and put on paper their romantic or sexual life. Here are their stories. Think of this not as a reading list, but as a peek into a rather unexpected literary niche. Thomas Oberreiter, Austrian Ambassador to the European Union (2023-2025) At the end of July, a story made jaws drop in Brussels: Austria's representative to the EU institutions was accused of running a blog with highly explicit content. Written from a female perspective, the blog includes scenes depicting sadomasochistic encounters – and at times, descriptions of non-consensual sex – allegedly authored by the 59-year-old male diplomat. Despite Oberreiter denying any involvement in the blog, media investigations traced its posts to IP addresses and devices belonging to the Austrian Foreign Ministry. The blog was reportedly updated during working hours and from within official premises. After more than 30 years as a diplomat in Europe and Mexico, Oberreiter resigned as the controversy erupted in Brussels. He has not responded to requests for comment. Quote to remember (or you wish you could forget): 'We were meat, nothing more. Women. Vessels for men's semen.' Marlene Schiappa, in the French government from 2017 to 2023. Secretary of State for Gender Equality (2017-2020), Minister Delegate in charge of Citizenship (2020-2022) & State Secretary for the Social and Solidarity Economy (2022-2023) Long before entering ministerial office, Marlène Schiappa had already turned to erotic writing under the pen name Marie Minelli. Among her titles are Osez les sexfriends, Comment transformer votre mec en Brad Pitt en 30 jours, and Sexe, mensonge et banlieues chaudes. When the existence of these books was revealed at the time of her appointment as Secretary of State for Gender Equality, she faced numerous attacks, which she described as sexist. 'I have a colleague in government who is well known to have written a novel. No one ever teases him about it, no one even mentions it. It's seen as normal: it's a bit cheeky, but that's fine, he's a man, he's allowed,' she once remarked. Ultimately, she has not hidden her past and has defended these works as a way of challenging society's views on women's relationship to sexuality. Schiappa is a prolific author. During her time in office, she published 11 books under her own name and one through her 'romantic' alter ego, Marie Minelli. She has not only faced criticism for the time spent writing, but also for posing for Playboy magazine. When she appeared on the cover of the April 2023 issue, her then boss, Prime Minister Élisabeth Borne, reportedly called her to say the interview was 'inappropriate'. Three months later, when the government was reshuffled, her name (as well as the one of Marie Minelli) was quietly left off the list. Quote to remember (or wish you could forget): 'I open my mouth as wide as I can, and Amaury ejaculates uncontrollably all over my face, shouting in a high-pitched voice: 'Vive la France! Vive la France! Vive la France!'' Minelli, M. (2014). Sexe, mensonges et Banlieues Chaudes. La Musardine. Bruno Le Maire, French Minister of the Economy, Finance, Industrial and Digital Sovereignty (2017-2024) Another minister in the same government also published books containing erotic scenes. Bruno Le Maire, who has served as Minister of the Economy since Emmanuel Macron's election in 2017 and previously held office under then-president Nicolas Sarkozy, is generally known for his serious, polished demeanour. But in 2023, at the height of the pension reform crisis, the publication of his novel Fugue américaine revealed a different side of the minister's personality. In this nearly 500-page novel, Le Maire tells the story of two brothers visiting Cuba in 1949 for a concert by pianist Vladimir Horowitz. Rather than the musical reflections or the cultural clash between East and West, it was a particularly explicit passage involving a young man named Oskar that drew public attention. The scene was widely shared on social media, sparking mockery online – particularly given the tense political climate – and posed a challenge for the government's communications strategy. However, this was not Bruno Le Maire's first time. In 2004, he published Le Ministre, a narrative based on his experience as adviser to Dominique de Villepin, then Minister of Foreign Affairs. In it, he recounts an intimate moment with his wife: 'I let myself be enveloped by the warmth of the bath, the light of the lagoon floating through the frosted glass door, the scent of green tea soap, and Pauline's hand gently caressing my sex.' Quote to remember (or wish you could forget): "She turned her back to me; she threw herself onto the bed; she showed me the brown swell of her anus. 'Are you coming, Oskar? I'm more dilated than ever.'" Le Maire, B. (2023). Fugue américaine: Roman. Gallimard. Esteban González Pons, Spanish Member of the European Parliament (since 2014) A well-known figure on Spain's centre-right, Esteban González Pons has served as a senator and is now a Member of the European Parliament. He is Vice-President of the Parliament and a member of the Budget Committee - positions that stand in sharp contrast to his side career as a writer of romantic and erotic fiction. In 2020, he published Ellas ('They,' in the feminine, in Spanish), a novel reflecting the author's deep love for his homeland and aimed at the generation that grew up during Spain's Transition in the 1960s and 70s. The protagonist decides to reconnect with his first love, and, in a dramatic gesture to catch her attention, sends her a suicide letter. What surprises readers are the rather explicit passages, which have drawn comparisons to Fifty Shades of Grey with some media renaming him 'González Porn'. In a 2022 interview, he brushed off these criticisms: "Journalists are very shocked when a love novel includes sex. Maybe it's because sexual education is lacking in journalism faculties". Quote to remember (or wish you could forget): "…that indifferent nudity conveyed the fullness of a mother goddess whose mons veneris would have welcomed the charge of a warrior galloping last night. She rested as pleased as a sexual praying mantis, exhausted after having swallowed her lover through the vagina, digested him in the womb, and finally expelled him again, allowed him to be reborn." Pons, E. G. (2020). Ellas. Espasa. Cleo Watson & Edwina Currie, United Kingdom Cleo Watson, a former Conservative political aide and special adviser to Prime Minister Boris Johnson, made headlines in 2023 with her debut novel, Whips. The book blends Westminster intrigue with office romances and personal entanglements. The novel ranges from a clandestine romance between rival Tory and Labour candidates who meet on a dating app, to the Prime Minister secretly watching porn, and even a Secretary of State answering committee questions while wearing a discreet vibrating device. Cleo Watson was part of the 'PartyGate' that led to the fall of Boris Johnson – and was even fined for it – she then published a follow-up in 2024, Cleavage. But she was not the first to write an erotic book using the UK political scene. Edwina Currie, Conservative MP for South Derbyshire from 1983 to 1997 and Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Health under Margaret Thatcher, also turned to fiction after leaving politics. Her 1994 novel, A Parliamentary Affair, interweaves Westminster manoeuvres with intimate relationships, exploring the personal dramas of those working in the high-pressure world of politics. Currie's writing is partly reconstructed from her real-life affair with former UK Prime Minister John Major.
