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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