In 2009, the UMP selected her to lead their list in the DOM-TOM constituency ahead of the 2009 European elections. Despite her list being entitled to one seat, she was not elected due to a provision in the electoral law which splits the constituency into three sub-constituencies. As a result, she was not entitled to a seat in the Atlantic subsection, but Maurice Ponga won the seat in the Pacific subsection.
She was named Secretary of State for Overseas Territories in the François Fillon government on 23 June 2009, becoming a minister in November that year.[1] The nomination of a Guadeloupe native to this position is important since Guadeloupe was the epicentre of the 2009 French Caribbean general strikes.