Laurent Timothée Marie Wauquiez (; born 12 April 1975) is a French politician who has presided over the
Regional Council of Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes from 2016 to 2024. He is a member of
The Republicans (LR), which he led from 2017 to 2019 following the resignation of
Nicolas Sarkozy.
Wauquiez was Secretary of State for European Affairs under the Foreign Minister
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 ...
; and previously Secretary of State for Employment under the
Minister of the Economy, Industry and Employment from March 2008 in
François Fillon's government. He also was
Government Spokesman from June 2007 to March 2008 as Minister of State under the
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 ...
. He was elected as 2nd Vice President of the
ORU Fogar at the organisation's General Assembly held in Quito, Ecuador on 16 October 2016.
On 10 December 2017, Wauquiez was
elected to the presidency of The Republicans with 74% of the vote. Pundits have described him as moving the party to the right.
On 2 June 2019, a week after overseeing the worst result for the right in its history in the
European election with 8% of the vote, Wauquiez resigned as party president.
After
2024 legislative election, Wauquiez became president of the LR group 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 repr ...
.
Early life and education
Wauquiez graduated from the
École normale supérieure
École or Ecole may refer to:
* an elementary school in the French educational stages normally followed by Secondary education in France, secondary education establishments (collège and lycée)
* École (river), a tributary of the Seine flowing i ...
in 1994 and
Université Panthéon-Sorbonne with a masters in
history
History is the systematic study of the past, focusing primarily on the Human history, human past. As an academic discipline, it analyses and interprets evidence to construct narratives about what happened and explain why it happened. Some t ...
and studied
public law
Public law is the part of law that governs relations and affairs between legal persons and a government, between different institutions within a state, between different branches of governments, as well as relationships between persons that ...
at the
Institut d'études politiques de Paris (Sciences Po); he later attended the
École nationale d'administration
The (; ENA; ) was a French ''grande école'', created in 1945 by the then Provisional Government of the French Republic, provisional chief of government Charles de Gaulle and principal co-author of the Constitution of France, 1958 Constitution M ...
(ÉNA). He worked as professor at
Emlyon Business School.
Political career
Wauquiez held several governmental positions over the course of Nicolas Sarkozy's presidency. He was named the Secretary of State for Employment in 2008 and also functioned as the government spokesman.
He later served as Minister of European Affairs and of Higher Education.
In 2012, he was re-elected to the National Assembly and became head of the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region in 2015.
In 2012, Wauquiez opposed legalisation of
same-sex marriage
Same-sex marriage, also known as gay marriage, is the marriage of two people of the same legal Legal sex and gender, sex. marriage between same-sex couples is legally performed and recognized in 38 countries, with a total population of 1.5 ...
.
On 10 December 2017, Wauquiez was elected as the president of The Republicans, winning over
Maël de Calan and
Florence Portelli. During his time in office, he overrode party scepticism to appoint
François-Xavier Bellamy to lead the LR list in the
European elections. He resigned in June 2019, bowing to pressure to step down after a his party’s weak performance in the elections.
In August 2021, Wauquiez decided not to run as the Republicans’s candidate in the
2022 presidential election.
Ahead of the Republicans' 2022 convention, Wauquiez endorsed
Éric Ciotti as the party's chairman.
Although he had previously promised not to participate in a government coalition after the
2024 legislative election, LR ultimately joined the
Barnier government, led by an LR member.
After Michel Barnier's ousting, LR joined the
Bayrou government.
In February 2025, Wauquiez announced his candidacy to reclaim the presidency of The Republicans, in
2025 The Republicans leadership election. Wauquiez sparked outrage in France, even within his own conservative circles, after proposing to send migrants awaiting deportation to
French overseas territory Saint Pierre and Miquelon
Saint Pierre and Miquelon ( ), officially the Territorial Collectivity of Saint Pierre and Miquelon (), is a self-governing territorial overseas collectivity of France in the northwestern Atlantic Ocean, located near the Canada, Canadian prov ...
. However, he secured only 26% of the vote in the May 18 election, losing to
Minister of the Interior Bruno Retailleau
Bruno Daniel Marie Paul Retailleau (; born 20 November 1960) is a French politician who has served as Minister of the Interior (France), Minister of the Interior and Minister of State in the Bayrou government, as well as the preceding Barnier gov ...
.
[(18 May 2025)]
Bruno Retailleau est élu président du parti Les Républicains avec 74,31% des voix
'' France Info''.
Personal life
Wauquiez is known for wearing a red
parka coat.
List of mandates and functions
Governmental functions
;
Minister of Higher Education and Research: 2011-2012
;Minister for European Affairs: 2010-2011
;
Secretary of State to the Prime Minister,
Government Spokesperson: 2007-2008
;Secretary of State for Employment: 2008-2010
Electoral mandates
National Assembly of France
*Member of the
National Assembly of France for
Haute-Loire's 1st constituency
*2004-2007 (He became secretary of State in 2007) / Since 2012
*Elected 2004 (by-election)
*Reelected 2007 and 2012.
Regional Council
President of the Regional Council of
Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes
Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes (; AURA) or ; or ; . is a Regions of France, region in southeast-central France created by the 2014 territorial reform of French regions; it resulted from the merger of Auvergne and Rhône-Alpes. The new region came into e ...
: since 2016
Municipal Council
Mayor of
Le Puy-en-Velay
Le Puy-en-Velay (, ; , before 1988: ''Le Puy'') is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Haute-Loire Departments of France, department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Regions of France, region of south-central France.
Located near the rive ...
: 2008-2016 (Resignation). Reelected in 2014.
Municipal councillor of
Le Puy-en-Velay
Le Puy-en-Velay (, ; , before 1988: ''Le Puy'') is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Haute-Loire Departments of France, department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Regions of France, region of south-central France.
Located near the rive ...
: 2008-2016 (Resignation). Reelected in 2014.
Notes and references
Notes
References
External links
Official government profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wauquiez, Laurent
1975 births
Living people
Politicians from Lyon
French Roman Catholics
Union for a Popular Movement politicians
The Social Right
The Republicans (France) politicians
Government ministers of France
Secretaries of State of France
Government spokespersons of France
Deputies of the 12th National Assembly of the French Fifth Republic
Deputies of the 13th National Assembly of the French Fifth Republic
Deputies of the 14th National Assembly of the French Fifth Republic
Deputies of the 17th National Assembly of the French Fifth Republic
Members of Parliament for Haute-Loire
Presidents of the Regional Council of Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes
Members of the Regional Council of Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes
Mayors of places in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes
Lycée Henri-IV alumni
Lycée Louis-le-Grand alumni
École Normale Supérieure alumni
Sciences Po alumni
École nationale d'administration alumni
Academic staff of Emlyon Business School