Published on October 28, the terse press release from Michel Barnier surprised many. “The Prime Minister has undergone surgery for a cervical lesion, the results of which will be known within a few weeks.”he announced. Why inform the French when, as the doctor wrote, “everything went very well”. ? Although most of his political career took place in the previous century, the Matignon tenant is aware that practices have changed.

Transparency is now the order of the day, after decades of secrecy surrounding the health of political leaders. Michel Barnier had just been elected General Councillor for Savoie when Georges Pompidou died suddenly in 1974, while still in office. His death came as a real shock, as the general public knew nothing of his illness – a sort of blood cancer. To turn the page on what appeared to be a state lie…