Gilbert Georges Jean Camille René Collard (; born 3 February 1948) is a French writer, barrister and politician serving as a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) since 2019. A member of the

National Rally The National Rally (french: Rassemblement National, ; RN), until 2018 known as the National Front (french: link=no, Front National, ; FN), is a Far-right politics, far-rightAbridged list of reliable sources that refer to National Rally as fa ...

(RN) until 2022, he was a member of the National Assembly for the 2nd constituency of

Gard Gard () is a department in Southern France, located in the region of Occitanie. It had a population of 748,437 as of 2019;Rassemblement bleu Marine Rassemblement bleu Marine (, RBM) was a French political coalition of right-wing and far-right political parties created by Marine Le Pen in 2012 before the legislative elections. It originally consisted of the National Front, the Sovereign ...

(RBM) since 2012, a right-wing political association and think-tank supporting

Marine Le Pen Marion Anne Perrine "Marine" Le Pen (; born 5 August 1968) is a French lawyer and politician who ran for the French presidency in 2012, 2017, and 2022. A member of the National Rally (RN; previously the National Front, FN), she served as its pre ...

. In January 2022, he left the RN for Éric Zemmour's Reconquête.

Biography

Early life and education

Gilbert Collard was born in Marseille and grew up in Châtel-Guyon. He studied law at Aix-Marseille University and Panthéon-Assas University. During his youth, he was a member of the

French Section of the Workers' International The French Section of the Workers' International (french: Section française de l'Internationale ouvrière, SFIO) was a political party in France that was founded in 1905 and succeeded in 1969 by the modern-day Socialist Party. The SFIO was found ...

(SFIO) and subsequent Socialist Party (PS) until 1992. His sister was lawyer and activist Jehanne Collard (1950–2021).

Career and first involvement in politics

Collard started his career as a barrister in Marseille in 1971. He quickly became a well-known lawyer at the national level, often speaking in the media about cases he defended. He most notably had Laurent Gbagbo,

Charles Pasqua Charles Victor Pasqua (18 April 192729 June 2015) was a French businessman and Gaullist politician. He was Interior Minister from 1986 to 1988, under Jacques Chirac's ''cohabitation'' government, and also from 1993 to 1995, under the government o ...

, Valérie Bègue, as well as

Paul Aussaresses Paul Aussaresses (; 7 November 1918 – 3 December 2013) was a French Army general, who fought during World War II, the First Indochina War and Algerian War. His actions during the Algerian War—and later defense of those actions—caused consid ...

as clients. In

2001 The September 11 attacks against the United States by Al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror, were a defining event of 2001. The United States led a Participants in ...

, he was an independent candidate for Mayor of Vichy. He was elected to the city's council but declined the mandate.

Member of the National Assembly

Collard moved to Gallician, a town in

Gard Gard () is a department in Southern France, located in the region of Occitanie. It had a population of 748,437 as of 2019;2012 legislative election, at the same time as

Marion Maréchal-Le Pen Marion may refer to: People *Marion (given name) *Marion (surname) *Marion Silva Fernandes, Brazilian footballer known simply as "Marion" *Marion (singer), Filipino singer-songwriter and pianist Marion Aunor (born 1992) Places Antarctica * Mari ...

in Vaucluse. He succeeded Étienne Mourrut of the Union for a Popular Movement, whom he had defeated. Along with Marion Maréchal and other FN senior executives, Collard took part in the mass demonstrations against same-sex marriage organized in Paris by '' La Manif pour tous'' movement in the first half of 2013. Since the 2014 municipal election, Collard has been a councillor of Saint-Gilles, Gard. On 17 April 2017, during a Marine Le Pen rally for the

2017 French presidential election The 2017 French presidential election was held on 23 April and 7 May 2017. As no candidate won a majority in the first round, a runoff was held between the top two candidates, Emmanuel Macron of En Marche! (EM) and Marine Le Pen of the Nationa ...

, an

anti-fascist Anti-fascism is a political movement in opposition to fascist ideologies, groups and individuals. Beginning in European countries in the 1920s, it was at its most significant shortly before and during World War II, where the Axis powers were ...

disrupter threw a Molotov cocktail towards him; he sustained minor injuries amid a quick reaction by police officers. Gilbert Collard was reelected to the National Assembly in the 2017 legislative election. He officially joined the National Rally, then called National Front, later the same year.

Member of the European Parliament

Collard stood as a candidate in the

2019 European Parliament election The 2019 European Parliament election was held between 23 and 26 May 2019, the ninth parliamentary election since the first direct elections in 1979. A total of 751 Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) represent more than 512 million peopl ...

. Following his election he resigned from the National Assembly, where he was succeeded by his substitute Nicolas Meizonnet.

Defection to Reconquête

On 22 January 2022, Collard along with Jérôme Rivière left the RN for Reconquête, the party of the far-right presidential candidate Éric Zemmour.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Collard, Gilbert 1948 births Living people French people of Lebanese descent Aix-Marseille University alumni Paris 2 Panthéon-Assas University alumni 20th-century French lawyers National Rally (France) politicians Politicians from Marseille French legal writers Deputies of the 14th National Assembly of the French Fifth Republic Deputies of the 15th National Assembly of the French Fifth Republic MEPs for France 2019–2024 Reconquête politicians 21st-century French lawyers Members of Parliament for Gard