Gérard Edmond Jacques Longuet (; born 24 February 1946) is a French politician who served as Minister of Defence and Veterans Affairs in the

government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a State (polity), state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive (government), execu ...

Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

François Fillon François Charles Amand Fillon (; born 4 March 1954) is a French retired politician who served as Prime Minister of France from 2007 to 2012 under President Nicolas Sarkozy. He was the nominee of The Republicans (previously known as the Union ...

from 2011 to 2012. A member of The Republicans (LR), he represented the

Meuse The Meuse or Maas is a major European river, rising in France and flowing through Belgium and the Netherlands before draining into the North Sea from the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta. It has a total length of . History From 1301, the upper ...

department in the

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

from 2001 to 2011 and again from 2012 to 2023.

Political career

Early beginnings

When he was young, Longuet was part of a

far-right Far-right politics, often termed right-wing extremism, encompasses a range of ideologies that are marked by ultraconservatism, authoritarianism, ultranationalism, and nativism. This political spectrum situates itself on the far end of the ...

movement called

Occident The Occident is a term for the West, traditionally comprising anything that belongs to the Western world. It is the antonym of the term ''Orient'', referring to the Eastern world. In English, it has largely fallen into disuse. The term occidental ...

. In 1968, he wrote the founding charter of the Groupe Union Défense (GUD), a

students' union A students' union or student union, is a student organization present in many colleges, universities, and high schools. In higher education, the students' union is often accorded its own building on the campus, dedicated to social, organizat ...

Career in national politics

Longuet served as a member of 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 repr ...

for the 1st constituency for

from 1978 to 1981 and again from 1988 to 1993. In the government of

Jacques Chirac Jacques René Chirac (, ; ; 29 November 193226 September 2019) was a French politician who served as President of France from 1995 to 2007. He was previously Prime Minister of France from 1974 to 1976 and 1986 to 1988, as well as Mayor of Pari ...

, Longuet first was Secretary of State for Posts and Telecommunications (March–August 1986) before becoming Minister of Posts and Telecommunications (1986–1988). From 1990 to 1995, Longuet served as president of the Republican Party (PR). During that time, he was also Minister of Industry, Posts and Telecommunications, and Foreign Trade in the government of

Édouard Balladur Édouard Balladur (; born 2 May 1929) is a French politician who served as Prime Minister of France under François Mitterrand from 29 March 1993 to 17 May 1995. He unsuccessfully ran for president in the 1995 French presidential election, co ...

from 1993 until he resigned in 1994. Ahead of the 1995 presidential campaign, he supported Balladur as center-right candidate; instead,

won the party's nomination and later the election. On the regional level, Longuet was a regional councillor of Lorraine from

1992 1992 was designated as International Space Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 – Boutros Boutros-Ghali of Egypt replaces Javier Pérez de Cuéllar of Peru as United Nations Secretary-General. * January 6 ** The Republ ...

until his resignation in 2010. He served as president of the Regional Council of Lorraine from 1992 to

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

. From 2009 to 2011, Longuet served as the leader of the

Union for a Popular Movement The Union for a Popular Movement ( ; UMP ) was a Liberal conservatism, liberal-conservative List of political parties in France, political party in France, largely inspired by the Gaullism, Gaullist tradition. During its existence, the UMP was o ...

(UMP) in the

Minister of Defence, 2011–2012

Shortly after taking office as Defence Minister under Prime Minister

, Longuet oversaw the

French Air Force The French Air and Space Force (, , ) is the air force, air and space force of the French Armed Forces. Formed in 1909 as the ("Aeronautical Service"), a service arm of the French Army, it became an independent military branch in 1934 as the Fr ...

's involvement in the

2011 military intervention in Libya On 19 March 2011, a NATO-led coalition began a military intervention into the ongoing Libyan civil war (2011), Libyan Civil War to implement United Nations Security Council Resolution 1973 (UNSCR 1973). The UN Security Council passed the reso ...

. After the mission ended, he met his Libyan counterpart Osama al-Juwaili in 2012 to sign a letter of intent to improve maritime security and control Libya’s borders. Also early in his tenure, it was revealed that Longuet had spent a weekend in 2006 in a Tunisian palace at the expense of

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

Zine El Abidine Ben Ali Zine El Abidine Ben Ali (Tunisian Arabic: , ; 3 September 1936 – 19 September 2019), commonly known as Ben Ali or Ezzine, was a Tunisian politician who served as the second President of Tunisia from 1987 to 2011. In that year, during the Tun ...

, who was overthrown shortly after by a popular revolt. In January 2012, President Sarkozy dispatched Longuet and the head of the French army to Afghanistan to conduct a review of security after an Afghan soldier killed four French service members. Shortly after, Longuet announced that France would withdraw its combat forces from Afghanistan – at the time, 2,400 soldiers in

Kapisa Province Kapisa ( ; Dari and Pashto: ''Kāpisā'') is the smallest of Afghanistan, Afghanistan's thirty-four provinces of Afghanistan, provinces and is located in the north-east of the country. It has an estimated population of 523,201 people and an area ...

– by 2013. Also in early 2012, Longuet led efforts on an agreement between France and Britain to jointly work to develop unmanned drones as part of their military cooperation. Following the 2012 Malian coup d'état, Longuet rejected the desert

Tuareg The Tuareg people (; also spelled Twareg or Touareg; endonym, depending on variety: ''Imuhaɣ'', ''Imušaɣ'', ''Imašeɣăn'' or ''Imajeɣăn'') are a large Berber ethnic group, traditionally nomadic pastoralists, who principally inhabit th ...

s' declaration of independence for what they called the state of

Azawad Azawad, or Azawagh (Tuareg languages, Tuareg: Azawaɣ, or Azawad; ), was a short-lived diplomatic recognition, unrecognised state lasting between 2012 and 2013. Azawagh (''Azawaɣ'') is the generic Tuareg, Tuareg Berber name for all Tuareg Ber ...

Later career

As part of a reorganisation of the UMP leadership under their leader

Jean-François Copé Jean-François Copé (; born 5 May 1964) is a French politician serving as Mayor of Meaux since 1995 with an interruption from 2002 to 2005. He was Government Spokesman between 2002 and 2007, when assumed other tenures in the government—inclu ...

in January 2013, Longuet became – alongside Christian Estrosi, Henri de Raincourt, Jean-Claude Gaudin, Brice Hortefeux and Roger Karoutchi – one of the party's six vice presidents and served until December 2014. Ahead of The Republicans' 2016 presidential primary, Longuet endorsed

as the party's candidate for the

2017 French presidential election Presidential elections were held in France on 23 April and 7 May 2017. Incumbent president François Hollande of the Socialist Party (France), Socialist Party (PS) was eligible to run for a second term, but declared on 1 December 2016 that he wo ...

. From 2017 to 2020, Longuet served as president of the Parliamentary Office for the Evaluation of Scientific and Technological Choices (OPECST).

Controversy

Legal issues

In 2005, Longuet was the only one among 47 persons prosecuted who was found not guilty in a trial over claims that construction companies had paid money to political parties in return for contracts.

Human rights

In 2008, Longuet compared homosexuality to

pedophilia Pedophilia ( alternatively spelled paedophilia) is a psychiatric disorder in which an adult or older adolescent experiences a primary or exclusive sexual attraction to prepubescent children. Although girls typically begin the process of pube ...

, and he said

gay pride In the context of LGBTQ culture, pride (also known as LGBTQ pride, LGBTQIA pride, LGBT pride, queer pride, gay pride, or gay and lesbian pride) is the promotion of the rights, self-affirmation, dignity, Social equality, equality, and increas ...

parades may lead

LGBT LGBTQ people are individuals who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, or questioning. Many variants of the initialism are used; LGBTQIA+ people incorporates intersex, asexual, aromantic, agender, and other individuals. The gro ...

teenagers to suicide. He has said he does not remember saying it, even though there is footage of it.

Other activities

* John Cockerill, Independent Member of the Board of Directors * Carrefour de l'Horloge, Member

Personal life

Longuet's

brother-in-law A sibling-in-law is the spouse of one's sibling or the sibling of one’s spouse. More commonly, a sibling-in-law is referred to as a brother-in-law for a male sibling-in-law and a sister-in-law for a female sibling-in-law. Sibling-in-law al ...

is billionaire

Vincent Bolloré Vincent Bolloré (; born 1 April 1952) is a French billionaire businessman. He was the chairman and CEO of the investment group Bolloré until his retirement from the family business in 2022. In January 2025, his net worth was estimated at US$ ...

.Jon Henley (18 August 2005)
An empire in his sights
''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

''.

Overview

Electoral mandates ''European Parliament'' Member of

European Parliament The European Parliament (EP) is one of the two legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it ...

: 1984–1986 (became minister in 1986). ''General council'' Vice President of the General Council of

: 1982–1986. General councillor of

: 1979–1992 / 1998–2001 (Resignation). Reelected in 1985, 1998. ''Municipal council'' Municipal councillor of

Bar-le-Duc Bar-le-Duc (), formerly known as Bar, is a commune in the Meuse département, of which it is the capital. The department is in Grand Est in northeastern France. The lower, more modern and busier part of the town extends along a narrow valley, ...

: 1983–1989.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Longuet, Gerard 1946 births Living people Politicians from Neuilly-sur-Seine Occident (movement) politicians Republican Party (France) politicians Union for a Popular Movement politicians The Republicans (France) politicians Ministers of defence and veterans affairs of France Ministers of posts, telegraphs, and telephones of France Deputies of the 6th National Assembly of the French Fifth Republic Deputies of the 8th National Assembly of the French Fifth Republic Deputies of the 9th National Assembly of the French Fifth Republic Deputies of the 10th National Assembly of the French Fifth Republic Members of Parliament for Meuse French senators of the Fifth Republic Senators of Meuse (department) MEPs for France 1984–1989 Regional councillors of France Groupe Union Défense members Lycée Henri-IV alumni Sciences Po alumni École nationale d'administration alumni Paris 2 Panthéon-Assas University alumni