Ericka Bareigts (; born 16 April 1967) is a French politician of 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 ...

(PS) who served as

Minister of Overseas France The Minister of the Overseas () is the official in charge of the Ministry of the Overseas in the Government of the French Republic, responsible for overseeing Overseas France. The office was titled Minister of the Colonies (''Ministre des Col ...

in the governments of successive

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 ...

Manuel Valls Manuel Carlos Valls Galfetti (born 13August 1962) is a French–Spanish politician who serves as Minister of the Overseas in the Bayrou government since 2024. He served as Prime Minister of France from 2014 until 2016 under president Françoi ...

and

Bernard Cazeneuve Bernard Guy Georges Cazeneuve (; born 2 June 1963) is a French politician and lawyer who served as Prime Minister of France from 6 December 2016 to 15 May 2017. He represented Manche's 5th constituency in the National Assembly from 1997 to 200 ...

from 30 August 2016 to 10 May 2017. She was 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 ...

from 2012 until 2016 and from 2017 until 2020. Since 4 July 2020 she has been serving as Mayor of

Saint-Denis, Réunion Saint-Denis (, ; ), unofficially Saint-Denis de La Réunion () for disambiguation, is the prefectures in France, prefecture (administrative capital) of the France, French overseas department and region of Réunion, in the Indian Ocean. It is lo ...

Early life and education

Bareigts was born on 16 April 1967 in

. She graduated from the University of La Réunion, where she received a bachelor of laws, followed by the Pantheon-Sorbonne University, where she received a master of law. Bareigts worked as a civil servant.

Political career

Career in local politics

Bareights joined the

at the age of thirty. She was elected as second vice mayor of her hometown, Saint-Denis, in 2008. She initiated many projects for the city, in particular the global educational project (PEG) which promotes the teaching of English in large section of kindergarten, the learning of chess games during the lunch break or the work of sports educators with young students on "self-esteem". The same year, Bareigts was elected president of the intercommunal community of Northern Reunion (CINOR), becoming the first woman to manage an intercommunal of Reunion. CINOR brings together the municipalities of Saint-Denis, Sainte-Marie and Sainte-Suzanne, representing more than 190,000 inhabitants, constituting the largest urban community in

Réunion Réunion (; ; ; known as before 1848) is an island in the Indian Ocean that is an overseas departments and regions of France, overseas department and region of France. Part of the Mascarene Islands, it is located approximately east of the isl ...

and Overseas. Bareigts was chosen as head of the PS's list for the 2009 European elections in the Overseas Territories of France. This list obtained 20.3% of the votes behind the

UMP UMP may refer to: Science * Ultra metal-poor star, refers to a type of star with extremely low levels of heavier elements * Uniformly most powerful test, in statistical hypothesis testing * Uridine monophosphate, a nucleotide * Utility maximizat ...

's list of

Marie-Luce Penchard Marie-Luce Penchard (; born 14 February 1959, in Gourbeyre) is a French politician from Guadeloupe and member of the UMP. She is the daughter of Lucette Michaux-Chevry, the historical leader of the right in Guadeloupe and the former President ...

(29.7%) and the Alliance of the Overseas's list of

Élie Hoarau Élie Hoarau (born July 8, 1938 in Sainte-Suzanne, Réunion) is a Reunionese politician and member of the Communist Party of Réunion. He is the husband of Senator Gélita Hoarau. Hoarau was elected as a member of the National Assembly of France ...

(21%). Bareigts won a seat as a regional councilor in the 2010 regional elections in Reunion, the list on which she appeared obtaining 18% of the votes cast.

Member of the National Assembly

1st term

2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

, Bareigts ran for legislative elections in

Réunion's 1st constituency The 1st constituency of Réunion is a French legislative constituency on the island of Réunion. As of 2024, it is represented by Philippe Naillet and Socialist Party deputy. Deputies Election results 2024 *Ludovic Sautron ran as a dissid ...

. In the second round, she was elected member of the

with 52.8% of the votes cast. In February 2014, Bareigts presented a resolution relating to Reunionese children placed in metropolitan France in the years 1960-1970, which was voted in the National Assembly. This resolution recognizes the moral responsibility of the French State. From 1963 to 1982, at least 2,150 children from

, "abandoned or not" and forcibly registered by the French authorities with the Departmental Directorate of Health and Social Affairs, were deported by the authorities in order to repopulate the metropolitan departments victims of the

rural flight Rural flight (also known as rural-to-urban migration, rural depopulation, or rural exodus) is the Human migration, migratory pattern of people from rural areas into urban areas. It is urbanization seen from the rural perspective. In Industriali ...

. In 2015, Bareigts proposed a bill to replace traditional Roman Catholic holidays like Christmas and Easter with local holidays in La Reunion The bill was rejected. In September 2015, Bareigts was applauded in the

for her response to the words of

Nadine Morano Nadine Morano (; born 6 November 1963 in Nancy) is a French politician of the Republicans who has been serving as Member of the European Parliament since 2014. She previously was a member of the National Assembly and a minister. Early life Mor ...

who had described France as a “white race country”. She declares thus: "For me, black deputy of the Republic, France described by Mrs. Morano is not mine". In the Socialist Party's 2017 presidential primaries Bareigts endorsed

as the party's candidate for that year's

presidential election A presidential election is the election of any head of state whose official title is President. Elections by country Albania The president of Albania is elected by the Assembly of Albania who are elected by the Albanian public. Chile The p ...

and worked on his campaign team. When

Benoît Hamon Benoît Hamon (; born 26 June 1967) is a French politician known for his former role within the Socialist Party (PS) and Party of European Socialists (PES) and his political party Génération.s. Hamon joined the Socialist Party in 1988 an ...

emerged as the primaries' winner, she joined his campaign team.

2nd term

Bareigts was re-elected on 18 June 2017 as deputy for the

, with almost 66% of the vote in the second round. On 12 September 2018, following the appointment of

François de Rugy François () is a French language, French masculine given name and surname, equivalent to the English name Francis (given name), Francis. People with the given name * François Amoudruz (1926–2020), French resistance fighter * Voltaire, Fran ...

to the government, Bareigts was the Socialist group's candidate for the President of the

and collected 31 votes. On 3 March 2018, during a visit to the Cimendef media library in Saint-Paul, recently bought by the Réunion region, Bareigts and

Huguette Bello Marie-Huguette Antoinette Bello (; born 24 August 1950) is a French politician and teacher from Réunion who has served as President of the Regional Council (France), president of the Regional Council of Réunion since 2021. Bello is the founder ...

were refused access to part of the building. The elected officials then forced the passage to be able to enter, accompanied by the Cimendef collective. Denouncing the assault on a guard by the two deputies, the

Regional Council of Réunion The Regional Council (France), Regional Council of Réunion consists of 45 members. Organization and composition Regional assembly Presidency Since 2 July 2021, the President of the Regional Council of Réunion has been Huguette Bello. ...

filed a complaint for breach of domicile. The Reunionese media then talk about the Cimendef case. On 1 June 2018 Bareigts succeeds in bringing the government back to public session, which wanted to derogate Overseas and

Corsica Corsica ( , , ; ; ) is an island in the Mediterranean Sea and one of the Regions of France, 18 regions of France. It is the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, fourth-largest island in the Mediterranean and lies southeast of the Metro ...

from the application of the 1986 coastal law (law on the development, protection and enhancement of the coastline), by allowing the construction of public or private collective facilities nearby ocean or beaches.

Secretary of Real Equality

Bareigts served as Secretary of Real Equality under Prime Minister

from February 2016 to 20 March 2016. She was in charge of economic equality between

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 ...

and the French

Overseas regions 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 sam ...

. Shortly after her appointment, ''

Le Monde (; ) is a mass media in France, French daily afternoon list of newspapers in France, newspaper. It is the main publication of Le Monde Group and reported an average print circulation, circulation of 480,000 copies per issue in 2022, including ...

'' published an article suggesting her official title was unclear.

Minister of Overseas Territories

Bareigts was appointed

on 30 August 2016 and replaced in the National Assembly by her substitute, Phillipe Naillet. The fourth Minister since 1958 to come from an overseas department and the first Reunion Islander to accede to the post of Minister, aware of her lack of notoriety, she spoke to ''

Libération (), popularly known as ''Libé'' (), is a daily newspaper in France, founded in Paris by Jean-Paul Sartre and Serge July in 1973 in the wake of the protest movements of May 1968 in France, May 1968. Initially positioned on the far left of Fr ...

'', who dedicated a portrait to her: "No one knows me enough at the national level, but I am a field politician, engaged for thirty years on the island of Reunion". When she was appointed, she declared that she wanted to implement the real equality of these territories with the metropolis and promote "territorialized growth" and went for her first trip to

Mayotte Mayotte ( ; , ; , ; , ), officially the Department of Mayotte (), is an Overseas France, overseas Overseas departments and regions of France, department and region and single territorial collectivity of France. It is one of the Overseas departm ...

, the poorest department in France. She will go there again while the department is experiencing an unprecedented drought since the meteorological records of 1941. On 28 March 2017, during the

2017 social unrest in French Guiana The 2017 social unrest in French Guiana was a series of protests and strikes led by the "Collective of 500 Brothers" to highlight the issues of insecurity and infrastructure in French Guiana, France. It began on March 20, 2017 in Kourou, and spre ...

, Bareigts and fellow minister

Matthias Fekl Matthias Fekl (; born 4 October 1977) is a French politician of the Socialist Party (France), Socialist Party who served as Minister of the Interior (France), Minister of the Interior in the Cazeneuve government, government of Prime Minister of F ...

were sent to the overseas department by Prime Minister Cazeneuve, pledging a €1 billion investment in infrastructure.

Return to local politics

in the 2020 municipal elections, Bareigts was head of the union of the left in

. Her list topped the first round with 42.7% of the vote, ahead of the right list led by the president of the

Didier Robert (24.9%) and the center list of Senator of France

Nassimah Dindar Nassimah Dindar, née Mangrolia (born 20 January 1960 in Saint-Louis, Réunion), is a French politician, serving as one of four Senators for the French Overseas department and region of Réunion. Dindar was originally elected in the 2017 Fren ...

(13%), and she became mayor of Saint-Denis.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bareigts, Ericka 1967 births Living people People from Saint-Denis, Réunion Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne University alumni Socialist Party (France) politicians Government ministers of France Women government ministers of France 21st-century French women politicians Women members of the National Assembly (France) Deputies of the 14th National Assembly of the French Fifth Republic Deputies of the 15th National Assembly of the French Fifth Republic Black French politicians Women mayors of places in France Mayors of places in Réunion Members of Parliament for Réunion