Claude Malhuret (; born 8 March 1950) is a French physician, lawyer and politician who has served as a member of the

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

since

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

, representing the department of

Allier Allier ( , , ; ) is a Departments of France, department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Regions of France, region that borders Cher (department), Cher to the west, Nièvre to the north, Saône-et-Loire and Loire (department), Loire to the east, Pu ...

. A member of Horizons (HOR), he has presided over the

centre-right Centre-right politics is the set of right-wing politics, right-wing political ideologies that lean closer to the political centre. It is commonly associated with conservatism, Christian democracy, liberal conservatism, and conservative liberalis ...

The Independents – Republic and Territories (LIRT) parliamentary group in the Senate since 2017. Previously, Malhuret was Secretary of State for Human Rights (1986–1988),

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 Vichy (1989–2017), 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 ...

(1993–1997) and of 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 ...

(1989–1993).

Early life and career

Malhuret was born in

Strasbourg Strasbourg ( , ; ; ) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est Regions of France, region of Geography of France, eastern France, in the historic region of Alsace. It is the prefecture of the Bas-Rhin Departmen ...

. After completing his

doctorate A doctorate (from Latin ''doctor'', meaning "teacher") or doctoral degree is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism '' licentia docendi'' ("licence to teach ...

medicine Medicine is the science and Praxis (process), practice of caring for patients, managing the Medical diagnosis, diagnosis, prognosis, Preventive medicine, prevention, therapy, treatment, Palliative care, palliation of their injury or disease, ...

at the

University of Paris The University of Paris (), known Metonymy, metonymically as the Sorbonne (), was the leading university in Paris, France, from 1150 to 1970, except for 1793–1806 during the French Revolution. Emerging around 1150 as a corporation associated wit ...

, he worked as a hospital intern. In 1973, Malhuret participated in some voluntary overseas work with Coopération Française, before being employed by the

World Health Organization The World Health Organization (WHO) is a list of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations which coordinates responses to international public health issues and emergencies. It is headquartered in Gen ...

in India. Malhuret also studied

law Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior, with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been variously described as a science and as the ar ...

at the University of Paris. Malhuret was elected president of Médecins Sans Frontières in 1977. Malhuret's humanitarian aid was beginning to be noticed, and in 1978 he became the President of

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

's overseas relief agency. In 1980, Malhuret was one of the organizers of the "March for the Survival of Cambodia" in Thailand, with several media and artistic personalities, and read a speech written by Bernard-Henri Lévy.

Political career

Career in government

From 1986 to 1988, Malhuret served as Secretary of State for Human Rights in the government of

Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

Jacques Chirac Jacques René Chirac (, ; ; 29 November 193226 September 2019) was a French politician who served as President of France from 1995 to 2007. He was previously Prime Minister of France from 1974 to 1976 and 1986 to 1988, as well as Mayor of Pari ...

, the first in this position.

Member of the European Parliament, 1989–1993

From 1989 to 1993, Malhuret was a

Member of the European Parliament A member of the European Parliament (MEP) is a person who has been Election, elected to serve as a popular representative in the European Parliament. When the European Parliament (then known as the Common Assembly of the European Coal and S ...

. In parliament, he served on the Committee on Political Affairs (1989–1990) and the Committee on Culture, Youth, Education and the Media (1992–1993). In addition to his committee assignments, he was part of the parliament's delegation for relations with Japan.

Mayor of Vichy, 1989–2017

Malhuret was elected mayor of Vichy and President of the Vichy Urban District in 1989. He initiated a massive programme to

modernize Modernization theory or modernisation theory holds that as societies become more economically modernized, wealthier and more educated, their political institutions become increasingly liberal democratic and rationalist. The "classical" theories ...

and restore the glory of the town, alongside other economic partners. This included the construction of a vast pedestrian area, upgrading of various hotels and renovation of the spas and Opera House. Malhuret stepped down to vice-president of the Vichy Urban District in 2001, but remained the mayor of Vichy.

Member of the Senate, 2014–present

Malhuret first became a member of the French Senate in the 2014 elections. In 2016, Malhuret publicly endorsed

Alain Juppé Alain Marie Juppé (; born 15 August 1945) is a French politician. A member of The Republicans, he was Prime Minister of France from 1995 to 1997 under President Jacques Chirac, during which period he faced major strikes that paralysed the c ...

in The Republicans' primaries for the 2017 presidential election. Following the

election An election is a formal group decision-making process whereby a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold Public administration, public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative d ...

Emmanuel Macron Emmanuel Jean-Michel Frédéric Macron (; born 21 December 1977) is a French politician who has served as President of France and Co-Prince of Andorra since 2017. He was Ministry of Economy and Finance (France), Minister of Economics, Industr ...

as president, Malhuret left the Republicans and became one of the founding members of the new Agir party. In 2021, when Agir began to move closer to Macron's

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) is a Periodization, period of history and a European cultural movement covering the 15th and 16th centuries. It marked the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and was characterized by an effort to revive and sur ...

, he joined Horizons instead. In 2023, Malhuret was the Senate's rapporteur on a proposal to ban video-sharing application

TikTok TikTok, known in mainland China and Hong Kong as Douyin (), is a social media and Short-form content, short-form online video platform owned by Chinese Internet company ByteDance. It hosts user-submitted videos, which may range in duration f ...

2025 speech

On 4 March 2025, Malhuret delivered an eight-minute speech to the French Senate about

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...

Elon Musk Elon Reeve Musk ( ; born June 28, 1971) is a businessman. He is known for his leadership of Tesla, SpaceX, X (formerly Twitter), and the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). Musk has been considered the wealthiest person in th ...

, and

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO ; , OTAN), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental organization, intergovernmental Transnationalism, transnational military alliance of 32 Member states of NATO, member s ...

. Critical of the Trump administration, the speech received significant attention in social media and mainstream media around the world.

Other positions

Malhuret served as a member of the

Board of Directors A board of directors is a governing body that supervises the activities of a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government agency. The powers, duties, and responsibilities of a board of directors are determined by government regulatio ...

of French nursing home chain Korian from 2003 to 2014.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Malhuret, Claude 1950 births 20th-century French physicians Agir (France) politicians Deputies of the 10th National Assembly of the French Fifth Republic French senators of the Fifth Republic Living people Médecins Sans Frontières Paris Descartes University alumni Physicians from Strasbourg Politicians from Strasbourg The Republicans (France) politicians Senators of Allier Union for a Popular Movement politicians Union for French Democracy politicians