December 2019. Bénédicte Peyrol has been pregnant for several months, the birth is coming soon. At the age of 28, the then deputy for La République en Marche de l’Allier, nevertheless continued to go to the National Assembly. “It was important, we were in the middle of a debate on the finance bill,” recalls the elected official. Even more so for her as a member of the Finance Committee.
Because even pregnant, Bénédicte Peyrol could not be replaced: deputies do not have the right to maternity leave, the mandate is not a job. What the rebel Mathilde Hignet wants to change: the elected rebel, who is due to give birth in a month, has introduced a bill to allow deputies who become parents to be replaced by their substitutes, the moment of “the reception of ‘a boy’.
In the absence of this possibility, Bénédicte Peyrol nevertheless allowed herself some adjustments. It is out of the question to follow the frenetic pace of the other parliamentarians and debate in the hemicycle until dawn.
“I avoided doing all my nights in the National Assembly, I went to bed earlier,” says the former elected.
“The first week, my husband accompanied me to the Assembly”
Finally, she decides to leave but only a few days before her delivery in mid-January. After the birth of her daughter, the deputy does not go to the Palais Bourbon for three weeks. She then dedicates herself to her son, but not only. This lawyer by training continues to follow the debates from a distance and wishes to return as soon as possible. “It was at the time of the pension reform,” recalls the parliamentarian. “I didn’t feel like staying home.”
This text puts the government in a bind, in the face of the demonstrations. Bénédicte Peyrol therefore made an express return to the Palais Bourbon. And she establishes what she describes as a “D system.”
“The first week my husband accompanied me to the National Assembly. He left our baby in my office while I sat in the hemicycle,” she explains.
“I campaigned with my chosen scarf and my baby”
At the end of the five-year period, rebelote. Bénédictte Peyrol is expecting a second child. This time the story is different. Parliamentary work is suspended and gives way to the presidential campaign. The deputy is not unemployed.
“On April 6, when I was going to give birth the next day, I was holding a meeting in my constituency. I came back the following week for a new meeting,” says Bénédicte Peyrol.
Then come the legislative elections. Bénédicte Peyrol seeks a second term in the Allies. His second child, a girl, does not visit the bays of the National Assembly but accompanies her mother on her trips.
“I campaigned carrying my baby and my chosen scarf,” says Bénédicte Peyrol. “People didn’t fully understand,” he continues. “I’m in a conservative department where people don’t really know what parity is.” Qualified late in the first round, she then lost to Nicolas Ray, a member of the Republicans.
Today she is in favor of making arrangements in the National Assembly to take into account the case of pregnant women. In particular, she advocates the installation of water points near the offices of deputies. This would have allowed him to meet certain needs of her first child when she came to the Palais Bourbon for a week.
Source: BFM TV
