In 1992, at Chirac's behest, Baroin joined his party
Rally for the Republic (RPR). He became a member of the
National Assembly in the
1993 elections – where he served on the Committee on Legal Affairs – and the mayor of Troyes, a mid-sized city South-East of Paris, two years later. Baroin was appointed Chirac's campaign spokesman in the
1995 French presidential election. Following the elections, he became first state secretary and government spokesman under
Prime Minister Alain Juppé and then, after a reshuffle, a political aide to the president. Returning to parliament, Baroin was a member of the National Assembly's Finance Committee (1997–2001), the Committee on Cultural Affairs (2001–2002) and the Committee on Legal Affairs (2002–2005). He also served as the Assembly's vice-president between 2002 and 2005. In the government led by
Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin, Baroin served as Minister for Overseas Territories from June 2005 to March 2007 and was briefly
Minister of the Interior from March to May 2007. He replaced
Nicolas Sarkozy on 26 March 2007 as Interior Minister when Sarkozy left the Government to pursue his
presidential candidacy. During his time as
Minister of the Budget in the government of
Prime Minister François Fillon from 2010 until 2011, Baroin successfully managed controversial dossiers such as wealth tax reform, the reduction of civil servants and the abolition of Sarkozy's controversial tax cap for the rich. On 29 June 2011, Baroin was appointed Minister for the Economy, Finance and Industry in Fillon's cabinet, replacing
Christine Lagarde following her appointment as Director General of the
International Monetary Fund. At the time, he was one of three candidates discussed for the role, alongside
Bruno Le Maire and
Valérie Pécresse. The appointment was seen as a tribute to Baroin's presumed ability to sell austerity to the French public and to unpick the economic policy of the opposition
Socialist Party. During his brief time in office, he chaired the meetings of the
Group of Eight ministers of finance when France held the group's presidency in 2011. From 2014, Baroin served as president of the France's Mayors Organization (
Association des Maires de France), a powerful organization for more than 36,000 mayors in France. Ahead of the
2017 French presidential election, Baroin played a central role in the campaign of
François Fillon. After Fillon was eliminated in the first round of voting, Baroin declared that he would vote for
Emmanuel Macron in the
runoff election and that he would be available as prime minister in a
cohabitation; however, Macron eventually chose
Édouard Philippe for the post. ==Career in the private sector==