Béatrice Bellay (born 25 July 1975) is a French politician in the

overseas department The overseas departments and regions of France (, ; DROM) are the five departments and regions of the French Republic which are located outside European France (also known as " metropolitan France"). These overseas entities have exactly the s ...

Martinique Martinique ( ; or ; Kalinago language, Kalinago: or ) is an island in the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies, in the eastern Caribbean Sea. It was previously known as Iguanacaera which translates to iguana island in Carib language, Kariʼn ...

. Bellay was elected to serve 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 Martinique's 3rd constituency in

2024 The year saw the list of ongoing armed conflicts, continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Myanmar civil war (2021–present), Myanmar civil war, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudane ...

. She has served as leader of the

Socialist Federation of Martinique The Socialist Federation of Martinique (FSM) ( ''French'': Fédération socialiste de la Martinique) is a political party in Martinique, France. The FSM is the Martinique federation of the Socialist Party. The party was founded in 1901 by Joseph ...

, the

Socialist Party Socialist Party is the name of many different political parties around the world. All of these parties claim to uphold some form of socialism, though they may have very different interpretations of what "socialism" means. Statistically, most of th ...

's federation in Martinique, since 2018.

Early life and education

Bellay was born in

Villepinte, Seine-Saint-Denis Villepinte () is a Communes of France, commune in the northeastern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the Kilometre Zero, centre of Paris. It is near the Charles de Gaulle Airport. The Parc des Expositions de Villepinte is located i ...

Metropolitan France Metropolitan France ( or ), also known as European France (), is the area of France which is geographically in Europe and chiefly comprises #Hexagon, the mainland, popularly known as "the Hexagon" ( or ), and Corsica. This collective name for the ...

to Martinican parents on 25 July 1975. She studied law and management at Paris

Sorbonne University Sorbonne University () is a public research university located in Paris, France. The institution's legacy reaches back to the Middle Ages in 1257 when Sorbonne College was established by Robert de Sorbon as a constituent college of the Unive ...

's Faculty of Law and Management. As a young person, she stated that

Angela Davis Angela Yvonne Davis (born January 26, 1944) is an American Marxist and feminist political activist, philosopher, academic, and author. She is Distinguished Professor Emerita of Feminist Studies and History of Consciousness at the University of ...

was a role model. She joined the

(PS) at age 23, and moved to Martinique at the age of 24 in 1999.

Government career

In 2001, she became HR director for the government of the commune of

Schœlcher Schœlcher (; Martinican Creole: ) is a town and the fourth-largest communes of France, commune in the overseas departments and regions of France, French overseas department of Martinique. The town was named Case-Navire until 1889, when it was ren ...

. She became head of the legal office at the transport department for the Department of Martinique. She became director of population services of the

communauté d'agglomération de l'Espace Sud de la Martinique Communauté d'agglomération de l'Espace Sud de la Martinique is an intercommunal structure in the Martinique overseas department and region of France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. ...

in 2019. Bellay has served as leader of the

, Martinique's branch of the Socialist Party, since 2018. In 2020, she became National Secretary for Real Equality for the Socialist Party. She was a candidate for the

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 ...

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

, serving as fourteenth on the

(PS) list led by

Raphaël Glucksmann Raphaël Glucksmann (, born 15 October 1979) is a French politician. Since 2019, he has been a member of the European Parliament (MEP), within the S&D alliance. Early life and career Glucksmann is the son of philosopher André Glucksmann (who ...

. In 2021, she was a candidate for

Regional Council of Martinique {{Infobox legislature , background_color = , text_color = , name =Regional Council of Martinique , native_name = Conseil régional de la Martinique , native_name_lang = , transcription_name = , le ...

. Bellay unsuccessfully contested

Martinique's 1st constituency The 1st constituency of Martinique is a French legislative constituency in the Martinique Martinique ( ; or ; Kalinago language, Kalinago: or ) is an island in the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies, in the eastern Caribbean Sea. It was ...

in the

in the 2022 election. She ultimately received 7.8% of the vote in the first round, and did not qualify for the runoff election.

Member of the National Assembly (2024-present)

, she was elected to represent Martinique's 3rd constituency in the National Assembly. She defeated incumbent MP

Johnny Hajjar Johnny Hajjar (born 17 January 1973) is a French politician. He became the Member of Parliament for Martinique's 3rd constituency in the 2022 French legislative election. He was defeated in the 2024 election by Béatrice Bellay. Hajjar is a m ...

of the

Martinican Progressive Party The Martinican Progressive Party (, PPM) is a democratic socialist political party in Martinique. It was founded on March 22, 1958 by poet Aimé Césaire after breaking off from the French Communist Party. The party favours the autonomy of Marti ...

by around 1,700 votes. Her substitute is Nadia Chonville. Her victory made her the second woman to serve as a member of the National Assembly from Martinique, after

Josette Manin Josette Manin (born 16 March 1950, Le Lamentin) is a French politician on the island of Martinique. She was the last President of the General Council of Martinique, from 31 March 2011 to 31 December 2015, and was the representative of Martinique ...

, who was elected in

2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bellay, Beatrice 1975 births Living people Deputies of the 17th National Assembly of the French Fifth Republic Members of Parliament for Martinique 21st-century French women politicians Socialist Party (France) politicians Martiniquais women in politics