Jean-Jacques Pignard (born April 1947 in

Villefranche-sur-Saône Villefranche-sur-Saône (, ; frp, Velafranche) is a commune in the Rhône department in eastern France. It lies 1 mile (1.6 km) west of the river Saône, and is around north of Lyon. The inhabitants of the town are called ''Caladois''. ...

Rhône The Rhône ( , ; wae, Rotten ; frp, Rôno ; oc, Ròse ) is a major river in France and Switzerland, rising in the Alps and flowing west and south through Lake Geneva and southeastern France before discharging into the Mediterranean Sea. At Ar ...

) is a French

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking ...

and a member of the

Senate of France The Senate (french: Sénat, ) is the upper house of the French Parliament, with the lower house being the National Assembly, the two houses constituting the legislature of France. The French Senate is made up of 348 senators (''sénateurs'' a ...

. He represents the

department and is a member of the

New Centre The Centrists (french: Les Centristes, LC), formerly known as New Centre (''Nouveau Centre'', NC) and European Social Liberal Party (''Parti Social Libéral Européen'', PSLE), is a centre-right political party in France formed by the members of ...

. He replaces

Michel Mercier Michel Mercier (born 7 March 1947) is a French politician and who served as Minister of Justice from 2010 until 2012. After studying law and graduation from Jean Moulin University Law school and the Lyon IEP, he taught finance and local gove ...

, who resigned his Senate seat to join cabinet. He was previously mayor of Villefranche. On July 24, 2009, he became Senator for the Rhône, replacing Michel Mercier who was appointed to the government. He is a member of the Union Centrist group. On June 16, 2012, he resigned from the Senate following Michel Mercier's end of ministerial duties, when he returned to the High Assembly. He returned to the Senate on April 23, 2014, following Michel Mercier's resignation.Journal Officiel
du 23 avril 2014, texte n° 122 His term of office ends on the following September 30, following the senatorial elections in which he did not stand for re-election.

References

1947 births Living people People from Villefranche-sur-Saône Union for French Democracy politicians The Centrists politicians Centrist Alliance politicians French senators of the Fifth Republic Union of Democrats and Independents politicians Senators of Rhône (department) {{France-politician-UDI-stub