The dojo, the police station, the church… and now the Palais Bourbon. Elected deputy National Rally of the third constituency by a short head with 50.42% of the votes cast, Stéphane Rambaud (62) will add a new key place in his career.
The dojo, because judo is the sport he has been loyal to since 1968.”It’s my youthful passion, he smiled, sporting a first dan black belt. I still remember my 8th birthday when my parents gave me my first kimono. I was registered with the Valletta club, at La Coupiane. A club that I was able to find in 2012 when I returned to Toulon.“
Clearly sporty, the new parliamentarian announces that he has also surveyed the GR20 Corsica three times. “Because I have a taste for nature and I am sensitive to the beauty of landscapes“
The police station – well, rather the police stations – because for 37 years, Stéphane Rambaud, born in Algiers and presenting himself as a pied-noir, crisscrossed France with his stripes of police commissioner (before returning to Toulon where he was head of the Service proximity security of Toulon from 2012 to 2020). From Mantes-la-Jolie to Cayenne or from Saint-Brieuc to Annecy, he alternated some assignments in urban police – “because I have always wanted to defend the victims and the people who suffer. It is moreover to continue that I do politics ” – and a lot in the direction of general intelligence.”The RG, it’s exciting, admits the one who has been retired for a year. We did analyzes on social issues by speaking with people from all walks of life. We saw things happen before others. From Rodez where I was at the time, for example, we had seen coming that in 2002 Jean-Marie Le Pen would be in the second round. For us it was not a surprise.”
Finally, the church because the Catholic religion is essential to it. “Faith sheds new light on life“, he explains, associating this spirituality with his adolescence among sea scouts on the edge of the harbour. “I discovered a universe of ideals there. It changed my life a bit by giving me a taste for effort and a taste for God.“.
Proudly claiming to be a “practicing Catholic”, he imagines that some may be ironic when they learn that he is the father of 7 children (now aged 37 to 23). “I am well aware that it is caricatural “, he sighs, shrugging his shoulders.
And now the Bourbon Palace then. Was it obvious that his career would lead him to the benches of the assembly? He believes it. “ I have always liked politics. Besides, I had done science po before joining the police “.
Confident “ never to have been on the left” he explains that it is the impression of seeing the country at “the drift” which pushed him to commit as soon as he retired (freeing him from the duty of reserve linked to his profession). He was also elected regional councilor last year. “The Rassemblent national is the only party to defend common sense. Common sense is also the national preference because one favors one’s children over one’s nephews. So it’s normal to think first of the French.”
Welcoming Stéphane Rambaud’s involvement in the campaign, “he is full of good will and wants to do well by bringing a fresh look”, Amaury Navarranne, leader of the Toulon RN and regional council colleague is having fun seeing the commissioner recently entered the political arena “to work on his files, as he had to do for the RG, with a rigorous and very Carthesian approach”. “We must also grant him the fact of really knowing the problems of insecurity thanks to his professional experience. When he talks about delinquency, it’s not by repeating what he heard at the counter…“
More surprising perhaps, it is in the mouth of Isabelle Monfort, her unfortunate rival representing the presidential majority that also come out compliments on the personality of Stéphane Rambaud. Rivals at the polls, they remain above all childhood friends. Years spent together in the scouts remains indeed a deep mutual respect. “Stéphane is an intelligent person and particularly gifted with empathy. We share the same values… Even if I don’t understand how he can reconcile them with what the National Rally is proposing! I’m sure we’ll have the opportunity to discuss it together because this mystery appeals to me!”
