Macron's political evolution and ideology Early Affiliation: Macron was a member of the Socialist Party from 2006 to 2009 and served as an economy minister under a Socialist government led by President François Hollande. Rejection of Socialism: During his time as minister, his promotion of business-friendly reforms and liberal economic policies caused friction with the Socialist Party's left wing. By 2016, Macron had explicitly declared, "Honesty compels me to say that I am not a socialist". "Neither Right nor Left": He founded his political movement, En Marche!, in 2016, positioning it as "neither right nor left". He framed the new political landscape as a division between "progressives and