Alain Vidalies (born 17 March 1951) was the French Secretary of State for Transport, the Sea and Fisheries from 26 August 2014 to 10 May 2017. He represents the Landes department in the National Assembly of France, and is a member of the

Socialist Party Socialist Party is the name of many different political parties around the world. All of these parties claim to uphold some form of socialism, though they may have very different interpretations of what "socialism" means. Statistically, most of t ...

and of the

Socialiste, radical, citoyen et divers gauche The Socialists and affiliated group (french: groupe Socialistes et apparentés ) is a parliamentary group in the National Assembly including representatives of the Socialist Party (PS). History The first socialist parliamentary group emerge ...

parliamentary group.

Career

Vidalies studied law at the University of Pau before being called to the bar in 1979. He specialised in employment law whilst pursuing an interest in politics. His political career began in 1976 as an assistant to Landes MP Roger Duroure before becoming a councillor for

Mont-de-Marsan Mont-de-Marsan (; Occitan: ''Lo Mont de Marçan'') is a commune and capital of the Landes department, Nouvelle-Aquitaine, southwestern France. Population Military installations The French Air and Space Force operates the '' Constantin Roza ...

South in 1979, a post he would hold until 2007. He made his way in local politics until he was elected to the

National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the rep ...

on behalf of Landes' 1st constituency in

1988 File:1988 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The oil platform Piper Alpha explodes and collapses in the North Sea, killing 165 workers; The USS Vincennes (CG-49) mistakenly shoots down Iran Air Flight 655; Australia celebrates its Bicenten ...

, and spent his time campaigning for better employment conditions. He lost his seat in 1993 and went back to the law, being appointed a deputy judge in 1997. He was also re-elected in 1997, and helped to reform family law, particularly in relation to

alimony Alimony, also called aliment (Scotland), maintenance (England, Ireland, Northern Ireland, Wales, Canada, New Zealand), spousal support (U.S., Canada) and spouse maintenance (Australia), is a legal obligation on a person to provide financial sup ...

, and the 35-hour working week. He headed the parliamentary commission on

modern slavery Contemporary slavery, also sometimes known as modern slavery or neo-slavery, refers to institutional slavery that continues to occur in present-day society. Estimates of the number of enslaved people today range from around 38 million to 46 mil ...

and was a member of the National Commission on Informatics and Liberties (CNIL) between 2000 and 2002. Vidalies was re-elected in 2002 and in 2007. From 16 May 2012 to 31 March 2014, he was Minister for Relations with Parliament (''Ministre délégué aux Relations avec le Parlement'') in the Ayrault Government under President François Hollande. On 26 August 2014 he was appointed Secretary of State for Transport, the Sea and Fisheries (''Secrétaire d’État chargé des Transports, de la Mer et de la Pêche''), a junior minister of cabinet rank within the

Ministry of Ecology, Sustainable Development and Energy The Ministry of Ecological Transition (French: ''Ministère de la Transition écologique''), commonly just referred to as Ministry of Ecology, is a department of the Government of France. It is responsible for preparing and implementing the gov ...

, in the Second Valls Government. Incidents during this time have included the

2015 Thalys train attack On 21 August 2015, a man opened fire on a Thalys train on its way from Amsterdam to Paris. Four people were injured, including the assailant. French, American and British passengers confronted the attacker and subdued him when his rifle jammed. ...

and the 2016 strikes in protest against his government's changes to employment law and the 35-hour week.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vidalies, Alain 1951 births Living people People from Landes (department) Politicians from Nouvelle-Aquitaine Socialist Party (France) politicians Deputies of the 9th National Assembly of the French Fifth Republic Deputies of the 11th National Assembly of the French Fifth Republic Deputies of the 12th National Assembly of the French Fifth Republic Deputies of the 13th National Assembly of the French Fifth Republic Deputies of the 14th National Assembly of the French Fifth Republic University of Bordeaux alumni