Jacques Blanc (born 21 October 1939) is a French politician and former

senator 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 e ...

for the

Lozère Lozère (; oc, Losera ) is a landlocked department in the region of Occitanie in Southern France, located near the Massif Central, bounded to the northeast by Haute-Loire, to the east by Ardèche, to the south by Gard, to the west by Aveyron, ...

department. He is also mayor of

La Canourgue La Canourgue (; oc, La Canorga) is a commune in the Lozère department in southern France. It is sometimes referred to in French as "''La petite Venise lozérienne''", the ''Little Venice of Lozère''. The commune served as a location for the ...

and president of the Aubrac-Lot-Causse ''

communauté de communes A ''communauté de communes'' (, "community of communes") is a federation of municipalities (communes) in France. It forms a framework within which local tasks are carried out together. It is the least-integrated form of ''intercommunalité'' (in ...

''. He is a member of the

Union for a Popular Movement The Union for a Popular Movement (french: link=no, Union pour un mouvement populaire, ; UMP, ) was a centre-right political party in France that was one of the two major contemporary political parties in France along with the centre-left Soci ...

(UMP). Blanc was president of the

Languedoc-Roussillon Languedoc-Roussillon (; oc, Lengadòc-Rosselhon ; ca, Llenguadoc-Rosselló) is a former administrative region of France. On 1 January 2016, it joined with the region of Midi-Pyrénées to become Occitania. It comprised five departments, and b ...

Region In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as zones, lands or territories, are areas that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and the interaction of humanity and t ...

from 1986 to 2004. His final mandate proved controversial, as 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 t ...

won more seats (although short of an absolute majority) in the

1998 elections The following elections occurred in the year 1998. Africa * 1998 Burkinabé presidential election * 1998 Central African parliamentary election * 1998 Gabonese presidential election * 1998 Guinean presidential election * 1998 Lesotho general elect ...

for the regional council than Blanc's RPR list: Blanc had to rely on the votes of the far-right National Front councillors to remain president.. Blanc was also ''député'' for the 2nd district of Lozère (the western part of the department) in 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 rep ...

from 2 April 1973 until his elevation to the Senate on 1 October 2001, except for the period 29 March 1977 – 31 March 1978 when he served in

Raymond Barre Raymond Octave Joseph Barre (; 12 April 192425 August 2007) was a French centre-right politician and economist. He was a Vice President of the European Commission and Commissioner for Economic and Financial Affairs under three presidents (Rey, ...

's government as Secretary of State for Agriculture. On 25 September 2011, he lost the senatorial reelection (he was elected in 2001). Alain Bertrand, the leftist Mayor of

Mende, Lozère Mende (, ) is a commune and the prefecture of the department of Lozère, in the region of Occitania, Southern France. Its inhabitants are called the ''Mendois''. The city, including the first traces of dwellings date back to 200 BC, was original ...

, was elected in his place.

References

External links

Page on the Senate websitePage on the National Assembly website
1939 births Living people People from Rodez Independent Republicans politicians Republican Party (France) politicians Liberal Democracy (France) politicians Union for French Democracy politicians Union for a Popular Movement politicians French Senators of the Fifth Republic Recipients of the Olympic Order Senators of Lozère Presidents of the European Committee of the Regions {{France-politician-UMP-stub