Over the last three and a half years she has become one of Luxembourg’s favourite politicians. Paulette Lenert might very well be at the top of the Luxembourgish government after the next elections. This would be unprecedented in the country’s history.

Never before has a women held this role in Luxembourg and never before has a woman been this close to achieving it. If the LSAP is the winner of next legislative elections on 8 October, Paulette Lenert would be the first female prime minister in Luxembourg. But it would also be the first time that the Grand-Duchy is led by a socialist.

During her televised debate with Xavier Bettel she said that having a female prime minister for the first time would certainly be interesting but it should not be what is most important.

She has closely observed Luxembourgish politics for a long time before she became a lead candidate, and she knows that you do not win running a one-(wo)man-show. "I am running with a whole team, with a programme and for now we have to convince people to vote for us."

Minister of Health during the pandemic

Having trained to be a lawyer, then becoming Vice President of the Administrative Court, she knows the inner workings of the government's departments. She then became the first government adviser at the Ministry of the Civil Service in 2013.

In 2018 she entered politics through the back door. After the elections she became minister for development co-operation and humanitarian affairs as well as minister for consumer protection.

RTL

Paulette Lenert, ministre de la Santé lors d'une conférence de presse sur la situation Covid-19, le 5 mars 2021. / © Photo: Jean-Christophe Verhaegen

Her political career accelerated in 2020 when, following the departure of Etienne Schneider, she became the minister fof health and a delegate for social security, all the while keeping her post within costumer protection. At the same time the Covid-19 pandemic started. The new minister had to face many challenges and take quick decisions, while being put into the spotlight. But the public liked her way of explaining subjects and situations, exposing the risks but never posing as an expert.

On 5 January 2022, following the departure of Dan Kersch, she then became vice prime minister.

Popular but never elected

Since July 2020, the minister is at the top of the Politmonitor, a survey done by Ilres for RTL and the Luxemburger Wort. She became the most popular political figure in the country overtaking Jean Asselborn (LSAP), who has been a popular minister for many years, and Xavier Bettel. With this popularity she’s changing the whole political landscape. The survey done in June 2023 puts her in second place behind Jean Asselborn. Luc Frieden from the CSV has now entered the top 5.

Will the next legislative elections reflect this popularity? Will she be able to beat politicians like the outgoing Prime Minister Xavier Bettel, and Luc Frieden who gained a lot of experience during the Jean-Claude Juncker era.

So far Paulette Lenert has never been elected, she is also running in the eastern district, the smallest district in Luxembourg. This makes it hard to foresee the results.

In 1967, Madeleine Frieden-Kinnen was the first woman to enter the Luxembourgish government. She became the secretary of state for the ministry of education, children and youth. She had been appointed by a CSV-LSAP coalition.