Étienne Blanc (; born 29 August 1954) is a French politician who has served as a

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

for

Rhône The Rhône ( , ; Occitan language, Occitan: ''Ròse''; Franco-Provençal, Arpitan: ''Rôno'') is a major river in France and Switzerland, rising in the Alps and flowing west and south through Lake Geneva and Southeastern France before dischargi ...

since

2020 The year 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of even ...

. A member of The Republicans (LR), he also ran for

Mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporation, municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilitie ...

Lyon Lyon (Franco-Provençal: ''Liyon'') is a city in France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of the French Alps, southeast of Paris, north of Marseille, southwest of Geneva, Switzerland, north ...

previously in

. A lawyer by occupation, Blanc served as Mayor of

Divonne-les-Bains Divonne-les-Bains (; Franco-Provençal, Arpitan: ''Digouona''), popularly known simply as Divonne, is a Communes of France, commune in the Ain Departments of France, department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Regions of France, region in Eastern Fr ...

(1991–2019) and represented the 3rd constituency of

Ain Ain (, ; ) is a French department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region, Eastern France. Named after the Ain river, it is bordered by the Saône and Rhône rivers. Ain is located on the country's eastern edge, on the Swiss border, where it ...

in 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 ...

(2002–2016). He was also First Vice President of the

Regional Council of Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes The Regional Council of Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes () is the deliberative assembly of the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region in southeast-central France. In 2016, the Regional Council of Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes succeeded the Regional Council of Auvergne and ...

(2016–2020) under

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 from 2016 to 2024. He is a member of The Republicans (LR), which he led from 2017 to 2019 follow ...

Political career

A native of

Givors Givors (; ) is a commune in the Metropolis of Lyon in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region in eastern France. Location It lies at the confluence of the Rhone and the Gier about south of Lyon and on the main road between that city and Saint-Étienne. ...

, Blanc attended

Jean Moulin University Lyon 3 The Jean Moulin University Lyon 3 (), also referred to as Lyon 3, is one of the three public universities of Lyon, France. It is named after the French Resistance fighter Jean Moulin and specialises in Law, Politics, Philosophy, Management and l ...

to study law. He was a

Rally for the Republic The Rally for the Republic ( ; RPR ) was a Gaullist and conservative political party in France. Originating from the Union of Democrats for the Republic (UDR), it was founded by Jacques Chirac in 1976 and presented itself as the heir of Gaul ...

activist in the 1978 legislative election campaign in Lyon, when he was thrown in the

by communist agitators. He moved to

Bourg-en-Bresse Bourg-en-Bresse (; ) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Ain department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region in Eastern France. Located northeast of Lyon, it is the capital of the ancient Provinces of France, province of Bresse (). I ...

to practice law, where he was elected to its

municipal council A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, borough cou ...

in 1983 for one six-year term. He later held the mayorship of

from 1991 until his resignation in 2019. From 1995 to 2014, he also presided over the '' communauté de communes du Pays de Gex''. In 2002, he joined the newly-founded

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 ...

, which became The Republicans in 2015. He represented the 3rd constituency of the

department in the

from 2002 until his resignation in 2016, triggered by his will to focus on his activities at the regional level. Following the 2015 regional election,

was elected to the presidency of the

on 4 January 2016. Blanc became his deputy, as he was elected First Vice President of the Regional Council the same day. He had previously been a regional councillor of the now-former

Rhône-Alpes Rhône-Alpes () was an administrative region of France. Since 1 January 2016, it is part of the new region Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes. It is located on the eastern border of the country, towards the south. The region was named after the river Rhône a ...

region from 1992 to 2002, as a close ally to then-Regional Council President Charles Millon. Blanc was The Republicans' candidate for Mayor of Lyon in the 2020 municipal election, in which the list he led placed second in the first round before merging with the list of

La République En Marche! Renaissance (RE) is a political party in France that is typically described as liberal and centrist or centre-right. The party was originally known as (EM) and later (, LREM, LaREM or REM), before adopting its current name in September 2022 ...

(LREM) led by

Yann Cucherat Yann Cucherat (born 2 October 1979) is a French gymnast. He won a bronze medal in parallel bars at the 2005 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships. He competed at the 2000, 2004, 2008, and 2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics, ...

for the second round. He was elected a municipal councillor for the 3rd arrondissement, taking office as group president in the municipal council. In late 2021, Blanc resigned the group presidency following favourable comments he made on

Éric Zemmour Éric Justin Léon Zemmour (; born 31 August 1958) is a French History of far-right movements in France, far-right politician, essayist, writer and political journalist and pundit. He was an editor and panelist on ''Face à l'Info'', a daily show ...

, which displeased members of his group. In the 2020 Senate election, he was returned to the

French Parliament The French Parliament (, ) is the Bicameralism, bicameral parliament of the French Fifth Republic, consisting of the Senate (France), Senate (), and the National Assembly (France), National Assembly (). Each assembly conducts legislative sessi ...

for

. He later resigned as Wauquiez's deputy. In the Senate, where he sits on the Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and the Armed Forces, he presides over an information group on

Nagorno-Karabakh Nagorno-Karabakh (, ; ) is a region in Azerbaijan, covering the southeastern stretch of the Lesser Caucasus mountain range. Part of the greater region of Karabakh, it spans the area between Lower Karabakh and Syunik Province, Syunik. Its ter ...

Political positions

Blanc is a conservative. He has advocated a right-wing electoral alliance beyond The Republicans ahead of the 2022 legislative election to counter the left-wing

New Ecological and Social People's Union The New Ecological and Social People's Union (, NUPES) was a Left-wing politics, left-wing electoral alliance of List of political parties in France, political parties in France. Formed on May Day 2022, the alliance included La France Insoumise ( ...

(NUPES). Ahead of the 2022 presidential election, Blanc publicly declared his support for

Michel Barnier Michel Jean Barnier (; born 9 January 1951) is a French politician who was Prime Minister of France from September to December 2024. A member of a series of Gaullist parties ( UDR, RPR, UMP, LR), Barnier has served in several French cabinet p ...

as The Republicans' candidate. After Barnier placed third in the first round at the

2021 The Republicans congress The 2021 The Republicans (LR) congress, also known as the Congress for France ( French: ''Congrès pour la France''), was an organised internal primary held from 1 to 4 December. It was organised by the party in order to nominate the candidate t ...

, he supported

Éric Ciotti Éric Ciotti ( or , ; born 28 September 1965) is a French politician who led The Republicans (LR) from 2022 to 2024. He has represented Alpes-Maritimes's 1st constituency in the National Assembly since the 2007 legislative election. Once a m ...

for the second round. Blanc had called on

to put his name forward at the 2021 congress for the party nomination, a proposition Zemmour declined before founding a new party,

Reconquête Reconquête (, ), stylised as Reconquête! (often shortened as R!), is a far-right political party in France founded in late 2021 by Éric Zemmour, who has since served as its leader. He was a candidate in the 2022 presidential election, in w ...

. Blanc expressed support for Zemmour's agenda-setting in the campaign leading up to the 2022 presidential election, but declined to join Reconquête, stating The Republicans should instead set a new course of action: "The right must tackle certain ideas head on: sovereignty, nationality, decline, immigration, identity, language, all themes that Zemmour makes his stock in trade". He called Zemmour's candidacy "the expression of he right'srenunciations".

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Blanc, Etienne 1954 births Living people People from Givors Union for a Popular Movement politicians The Republicans (France) politicians 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 Members of Parliament for Ain French senators of the Fifth Republic Senators of Rhône (department) Regional councillors of France Members of the Regional Council of Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Mayors of places in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes French city councillors University of Lyon alumni 20th-century French lawyers 21st-century French lawyers