Presentation of Monsieur Philippe Séguin by the public orator, the late Dr A M Duncan for the honorary degree of doctor of letters in 1989.

Secondly, we honour M. Séguin as a representative of the Department of the Vosges in the Chamber of Deputies. Again, Charnwood has not yet tried electing a Member of Parliament as Mayor; but it ought to do the Rate Support Grant no end of good. Thirdly, we honour M. Séguin as Minister of Social Affairs and Employment in the Government of France, with immense responsibilities in fields in which our own Government still may have a little to learn. Fourthly, to arrive at last at the real reason why he belongs in this University, he was a formidable right back not so many years ago and is still a devoted soccer supporter.

He was born in Tunis in 1943, seventeen months before his father was killed fighting for the liberation of France. Indeed, the Medaille Militaire awarded to his father was pinned to Philippe Séguin's chest at a public ceremony when he was six years old. Educated at the Lycée Carnot in Tunis, and at the Lycée de Draguignan in Provence when his family returned to Metropolitan France, he qualified brilliantly as a teacher at the Ecole Normale du Var. However, another destiny called him. He took an Arts degree and higher diplomas in history and in political studies at the University of Aix-en-Provence, and after a spell as an administrator in French Polynesia he entered the Ecole Nationale d'Administration, that formidable breeding ground of future administrators of the French nation, in 1969. At one time the Sir Humphreys and their ministers in Whitehall understood each other because they had been at Balliol together; but times have changed. France, however, continues to run smoothly because its leaders have all been at Grandes Ecoles together - the Ecole Polytechnique for industry and the E.N.A. for government. No doubt the only hope for Britain is that in future both its government and its industry will be controlled by those who have been at Loughborough together. There is, however, a further reason why in France ministers and civil servants understand each other, for civil servants can actually become ministers.

During his career as a civil servant, M. Séguin served chiefly in the Cour des Comptes, as well as short periods in university administration and in the directorate of physical education and another as professeur in the training centre of the Ministry of Economics and Finance. However, the crucial appointments were in the private offices of ministers, especially in 1977 and 1978 in that of Raymond Barre when he was Prime Minister.

As a young student M. Seguin was inclined towards socialism; but he became a Gaullist at the time of the General's return to power. In 1978 he was launched by Jacques Chirac as something of a bombshell on the constituency of Epinal, regarded as a stronghold of the left. After a hard campaign of climbing the staircases of Council flats, so it is said, from 8 a.m. to 8p.m. he won the seat for the R.P.R.; and by hard work for his constituents he established himself well enough to hold it against the odds in 1981. He was elected Mayor of Epinal in 1983. Meanwhile, he had made his name as a highly effective Parliamentarian, particularly in the battles over nationalisation and decentralisation. He declares himself a conservative; yet he is a liberal if not a social democrat in many of his attitudes. For his determined opposition to the National Front, he was called by Jacques Chirac 'not a Gaullist but a Séguinist'. He has a mordant wit, and his views have not endeared him to some of the leaders of his party. However, he says that when he hears the word 'ideology' he goes for his revolver. The truth is that he is not so much a pragmatist as a man who works from first principles - sound Cartesian principles, as befits a Frenchman - rather than a dogmatist.

Thus when the need for cohabitation between the new Government and President Mitterand arose after the election of 1966, his opportunity came. In his present ministry he has shown his true stature as a statesman. In Epinal there is a wall specially designated for political graffiti, an idea which the Mayor of Charnwood ought to consider. Last March a man was seen painting on it in red the slogan, roughly translated, 'Tomorrow I'm off to Paris to save Social Security'. It was the Mayor and Minister of Social Affairs, and he is keeping his word. More recently, he has resisted attempts to restrict the right of public employees to strike.

It was a Mayor of the Palace, some twelve hundred years ago, who became the first Carolingian King of France. Perhaps the Mayor of Epinal will one day become a President of France.

Therefore, Mr Chancellor, I present Philippe Daniel Alain Séguin to you and to the University for the degree of Doctor of Letters, honoris causa.

Last updated Dec 2000