But why do all politicians publish books?

Being published is a good way for an elected official to establish themselves in the news, even if the work in question is little-read. It has even become a sort of obligatory passage.

By the start of the 2024 school year, Jordan Bardella had sold over 180,000 copies of his book. Books by Jean-Michel Blanquer, Élisabeth Borne, Philippe de Villiers, Boris Vallaud, Sandrine Rousseau, Eva Joly, and Danielle Simonnet were also on bookstore shelves at the same time. © Corre S/Afpaca/Andia.fr

There's enough to create a book fair just with them. Politicians, more than ever, are writing and publishing. Essays, memoirs, presidential manifestos that don't say their names. In this spring of 2025, booksellers are welcoming the works of Fabien Roussel , Bernard Cazeneuve, Clémentine Autain, Olivier Faure, and Yaël Braun-Pivet.

They are added to the 2024 back-to-school vintage, during which the works of Jean-Michel Blanquer, Élisabeth Borne, Philippe de Villiers, Boris Vallaud, Sandrine Rousseau , Eva Joly , Danielle Simonnet were published... Not forgetting that of the president of the RN, Jordan Bardella, a blockbuster in the field, supported by a formidable marketing campaign and sold more than 180,000 copies.

But why the hell do they all write? Before answering, let's remember that not all the books cited necessarily belong to the same typology. Some works are long-term memoirs (Eva Joly), others are feedback (former Macronist ministers, MP Boris Vallaud on his life as a parliamentary representative), and others approach politics from an intimate perspective, like Olivier Faure, who...