Bernard Accoyer (, born 12 August 1945 in

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 ...

) is a French politician who was President of the National Assembly of France from 2007 to 2012. He was also the Mayor of Annecy-le-Vieux.CV at personal website
.

Political career

Career in local politics

Accoyer, a doctor by profession, has served as

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 ...

of Annecy-le-Vieux since March 1989; he also served as a member of the General Council of

Haute-Savoie Haute-Savoie () is a Departments of France, department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Regions of France, region of Southeastern France, bordering both Switzerland and Italy. Its Prefectures in France, prefecture is Annecy. To the north is Lake Gene ...

from March 1992 to March 1998.

Member of the National Assembly

Accoyer served as a deputy for the first constituency of

and was first elected to the National Assembly in the March 1993 parliamentary election; he has been re-elected in each election since. He was President 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) group in the

National Assembly of France The National Assembly (, ) is the lower house of the Bicameralism, bicameral French Parliament under the French Fifth Republic, Fifth Republic, the upper house being the Senate (France), Senate (). The National Assembly's legislators are known ...

from 2004 to 2007. In 2007, Accoyer was selected as the candidate of the UMP group, which has the absolute majority, for the presidency 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 ...

. He became the President of the National Assembly on 26 June 2007. On 6 November 2007, Accoyer was among the guests invited to the

state dinner A state banquet is an official banquet hosted by the head of state in their official residence for another head of state, or sometimes head of government, and other guests. Usually as part of a state visit or diplomatic conference, it is held ...

hosted by

U.S. President The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president directs the Federal government of the United States#Executive branch, executive branch of the Federal government of t ...

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician and businessman who was the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Bush family and the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he i ...

in honor 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 ...

Nicolas Sarkozy Nicolas Paul Stéphane Sarközy de Nagy-Bocsa ( ; ; born 28 January 1955) is a French politician who served as President of France from 2007 to 2012. In 2021, he was found guilty of having tried to bribe a judge in 2014 to obtain information ...

at the

White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue Northwest (Washington, D.C.), NW in Washington, D.C., it has served as the residence of every U.S. president ...

. Despite the unwritten tradition that the President of the National Assembly abstains from taking part in votes, Accoyer voted in favor of a bill providing for major constitutional changes on 21 July 2008; because the bill passed by only a one-vote margin, his vote in favor, along with that of

Socialist Socialism is an economic ideology, economic and political philosophy encompassing diverse Economic system, economic and social systems characterised by social ownership of the means of production, as opposed to private ownership. It describes ...

deputy Jack Lang, was crucial."Sarkozy's flagship French reform passes by two votes"
, AFP, 21 July 2008.

References

, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Accoyer, Bernard 1945 births Living people Politicians from Lyon Physicians from Lyon Rally for the Republic politicians Union for a Popular Movement politicians The Strong Right Gaullism, a way forward for France The Republicans (France) politicians Presidents of the National Assembly (France) Deputies of the 10th 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 Members of Parliament for Haute-Savoie French general councillors Mayors of places in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes 20th-century French physicians University of Lyon alumni Officers of the Legion of Honour