Jean-Christophe Lagarde (born 24 October 1967) is a French politician serving as president of the
Union of Democrats and Independents
The Union of Democrats and Independents (french: Union des démocrates et indépendants, UDI) is a centre to centre-right political party in France and former electoral alliance founded on 18 September 2012 on the basis of the parliamentary grou ...
(UDI) since 2014. He succeeded
Jean-Louis Borloo
Jean-Louis Marie Borloo (; born 7 April 1951) is a French politician who served as president of the Union of Democrats and Independents (UDI) from 2012 to 2014. He also was Minister of the Economy, Finance and Employment in 2007 and Minister of ...
after a short interim by
Yves Jégo
Yves Jégo (; born 17 April 1961) is a French politician. He was '' député'' for the third constituency of Seine-et-Marne in the National Assembly from 2002 to 2018, and Mayor of Montereau-Fault-Yonne.
He was the general delegate of the U ...
. Lagarde has been the 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 rep ...
Seine-Saint-Denis
() is a department of France located in the Grand Paris metropolis in the region. In French, it is often referred to colloquially as ' or ' ("ninety-three" or "nine three"), after its official administrative number, 93. Its prefecture is Bobig ...
Vienne
Vienne (; Poitevin-Saintongeais: ''Viéne'') is a landlocked department in the French region of Nouvelle-Aquitaine. It takes its name from the river Vienne. It had a population of 438,435 in 2019.Drancy from 2001 to 2017.
Career in national politics
Lagarde has been the member of the National Assembly for Seine-Saint-Denis's 5th constituency since the 2002 legislative election.
In the National Assembly, Lagarde was a member of the Committee on Legal Affairs from 2002 until 2012. He also served as one of the Assembly's vice-presidents, from 2006 until 2007 and again from 2010 until 2012.
In the
2012 presidential election
This national electoral calendar for 2012 lists the national/ federal elections held in 2012 in all sovereign states and their dependent territories. By-elections are excluded, though national referendums are included.
January
*3–4 January ...
, Lagarde publicly endorsed incumbent Nicolas Sarkozy. Following the legislative elections later that year, he joined the newly established UDI led by
Jean-Louis Borloo
Jean-Louis Marie Borloo (; born 7 April 1951) is a French politician who served as president of the Union of Democrats and Independents (UDI) from 2012 to 2014. He also was Minister of the Economy, Finance and Employment in 2007 and Minister of ...
and became the spokesperson of its parliamentary group. In 2013, Borloo included Lagarde in his shadow cabinet; in this capacity, Lagarde served as opposition counterpart to
Minister of the Interior
An interior minister (sometimes called a minister of internal affairs or minister of home affairs) is a cabinet official position that is responsible for internal affairs, such as public security, civil registration and identification, emergency ...
Manuel Valls
Manuel Carlos Valls Galfetti (, , ; born 13 August 1962) is a French-Spanish politician who has served as a Barcelona city councillor from 2019 to 2021. He served as Prime Minister of France from 2014 until 2016 under president François Hol ...
Alain Juppé
Alain Marie Juppé (; born 15 August 1945) is a French politician. A member of The Republicans (France), The Republicans, he was Prime Minister of France from 1995 to 1997 under President Jacques Chirac, during which period he faced 1995 strikes ...
as candidate for the office of
President of France
The president of France, officially the president of the French Republic (french: Président de la République française), is the executive head of state of France, and the commander-in-chief of the French Armed Forces. As the presidency i ...
. When the party's majority chose
François Fillon
François Charles Armand Fillon (; born 4 March 1954) is a retired French 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 ...
to run in the 2017 presidential election instead, Lagarde joined Fillon's campaign team. Amid the Fillon affair, he first called on the candidate to quit the election race in favour of Juppé but eventually suspended the UDI's support for the campaign altogether. Ahead of the Republicans' 2017 leadership election, he announced that the alliance between UDI and LR would end indefinitely in the event of
Laurent Wauquiez
Laurent Timothée Marie Wauquiez (; born 12 April 1975) is a French politician who has presided over the Regional Council of Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes since 2016. He is a member of The Republicans (LR), which he led from 2017 to 2019 following the ...
becoming the party's chairman.
Since the
2017 elections
The following elections occurred in 2017.
Africa
*2017 Somali presidential election 8 February 2017
*2017 Gambian parliamentary election 6 April 2017
* 2017 Algerian legislative election 4 May 2017
*2017 Lesotho general election 3 June 2017
*20 ...
, Lagarde has been serving on the Defence Committee. In addition to his committee assignments, he is a member of the French-Algerian Parliamentary Friendship Group, the French-Tunisian Parliamentary Friendship Group and the French delegation to the
NATO Parliamentary Assembly
Founded in 1955, the NATO Parliamentary Assembly (NATO PA) serves as the consultative interparliamentary organisation for the North Atlantic Alliance. Its current President is Gerald E. Connolly from the United States, elected in 2019. Its curre ...
.
Political positions
In 2013, Lagarde was – alongside
Yves Jégo
Yves Jégo (; born 17 April 1961) is a French politician. He was '' député'' for the third constituency of Seine-et-Marne in the National Assembly from 2002 to 2018, and Mayor of Montereau-Fault-Yonne.
He was the general delegate of the U ...
– one of two UDI members who voted against his parliamentary group's majority and instead supported the legalization of
same-sex marriage in France
Same-sex marriage in France has been legal since 18 May 2013, making France the thirteenth country worldwide to allow same-sex couples to marry. The legislation applies to metropolitan France as well as to all French overseas departments and t ...
.
In March 2019, Lagarde opposed
Bruno Le Maire
Bruno Le Maire (; born 15 April 1969) is a French politician and former diplomat who has served as Minister of the Economy and Finance since 2017 under President Emmanuel Macron. A former member of The Republicans (LR), which he left in 2017 to ...
L'Opinion
''L'Opinion'' is a daily francophone Moroccan newspaper.
History and profile
''L'Opinion'' was established in 1965. The daily is the organ of the Istiqlal Party. It is the sister publication of the Arabic-language newspaper ''Al-Alam'' and i ...