White locks and thick-rimmed glasses. It was a face unknown to the general public that came out of Alexis Kholer’s hat when he announced the composition of Michel Barnier’s new government on the steps of the Elysée Palace. That of the Republicans (LR) MP for Bas-Rhin Patrick Hetzel, appointed Minister Delegate for Higher Education and Research. A tailor-made position for this academic converted to politics by François Fillon, who thus succeeds Sylvie Retailleau. One of the rare members of the government from the right. The Ministry of Higher Education holds few mysteries for Patrick Hetzel and for good reason, he was its Director General from 2008 to 2012.
Above all, the new minister entered politics late in life, after a brilliant academic career. A career to which nothing predisposed this Alsatian Protestant of rather modest origins. Born in 1964 in Phalsbourg (Moselle), he grew up in Sarre-Union (Bas-Rhin), between school and the Cheval Noir hotel-restaurant run by his parents. Faced with the obvious predispositions of their only child, the Hetzel parents let their son undertake long studies in management. First near his home, in Strasbourg, at the Institut d’enseignement commercial supérieur (IECS). Then further away, at the University of Lyon III, where he obtained his doctorate and his aggregation in management sciences and at Paris 2 Panthéon Assas; two universities rather marked on the right.
The Fillon revelation
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After Nicolas Sarkozy’s victory, François Fillon again called him to Matignon as an education advisor. Some of his proposals would be included in the Pécresse law on higher education. But his experience at Matignon would be brief, as he was appointed Director General of Higher Education (Dgesip, in the jargon) in August 2008. It was only in 2012 that he truly crossed the Rubicon and plunged into the political deep end. After registering for the first time with the UMP, he obtained the investiture of the Saverne constituency in Alsace, notably thanks to the sponsorship of Émile Blessig, his predecessor, who did not stand for re-election.
Gaullist dialogue
All the lights are green, but the Luc Besson scandal breaks out. The Court of Auditors then suspects the former Fillon government of having forced the Louis-Lumière School to sign a rental contract with the Cité du Cinéma for an amount of 1.9 million euros per month. A sum corresponding to the annual budget of the School… The Louis-Lumière School being under the supervision of the Ministry of Higher Education, the said contract had been signed by Patrick Hetzel in his capacity as Dgesip. This does not prevent the Alsatian from being elected as a deputy. Since then, he has never lost his seat.
Conservative, this Alsatian for juice who speaks the language of his region fluently is not only conservative on educational issues. He has also been involved in all the battles on social issues
Nor his position as a professor at Assas, which he still holds. In this case, he will ultimately only be fined 300 euros. In the National Assembly, Patrick Hetzel has the image of an old-style Gaullist, discreet but hard-working, attached to a certain lofty view far from the disheveled controversies that have multiplied during the last legislatures. This networker, member of the Centuryalso has the reputation of a man without sectarianism, capable of speaking with everyone and finding common ground with his fiercest adversaries.
A Protestant attached to the family
Qualities that are perhaps not unrelated to his appointment to Michel Barnier’s government, the latter having himself been selected for his mediation skills. A conservative, this Alsatian for juice who speaks the language of his region fluently is not only conservative on education issues. The one who displays firm positions on the fight against Islamism and the resumption of control of immigration has also been involved in all the battles on social issues.
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He had even beaten the pavement against the Marriage for All in 2013. Under François Hollande, he was part of the “Parliamentary Agreement for the Family”, an informal group set up to “defend the best interests of the child“, which then brought together around 150 right-wing elected officials. More recently, he opposed medically assisted procreation (PMA) for single women, the extension of the legal time limit for abortion and euthanasia. The Alsatian had supported his friend and mentor François Fillon in 2017.
Since he has been excluded from the political game, Patrick Hetzel joined Michel Barnier’s campaign team for the primary of the right and the center, as co-responsible for the political project. The two men know each other well. In October 2021, the former Brexit negotiator even came to campaign in Saverne, on his land. Once Valérie Pécresse was invested by LR for the presidential election, Patrick Hetzel took charge of the higher education part of her program. For Higher Education, Michel Barnier therefore chose his traveling companion with full knowledge of the facts.
