Robert Hue (; born 19 October 1946) is a

French politician The politics of France take place within the framework of a semi-presidential systems, semi-presidential system determined by the Constitution of France, French Constitution of the French Fifth Republic. The nation declares itself to be an "in ...

who was National Secretary of the

French Communist Party The French Communist Party (, , PCF) is a Communism, communist list of political parties in France, party in France. The PCF is a member of the Party of the European Left, and its Member of the European Parliament, MEPs sit with The Left in the ...

(PCF) from 1994 to 2001 and President of the PCF from 2001 to 2002. He served as a Deputy in the

National Assembly of France The National Assembly (, ) is the lower house of the Bicameralism, bicameral French Parliament under the French Fifth Republic, Fifth Republic, the upper house being the Senate (France), Senate (). The National Assembly's legislators are known ...

from 1997 to 2002, and he has served in the

Senate of France The Senate (, ) is the upper house of the French Parliament, with the lower house being the National Assembly (France), National Assembly, the two houses constituting the legislature of France. It is made up of 348 senators (''sénateurs'' and ...

between 2004 and 2017. Hue was a candidate in the 1995 presidential election, in which he received 8.7% of the vote, and in the 2002 presidential election, in which he won 3.37%. He is married to Marie-Édith, and he is father of two (Charles and Cécilia).

Early activities

Hue was born in Cormeilles-en-Parisis,

Val-d'Oise Val-d'Oise (, "Vale of the Oise") is a department in the Île-de-France region, Northern France. It was created in 1968 following the split of the Seine-et-Oise department. In 2019, Val-d'Oise had a population of 1,249,674.< ...

in 1946. His family professed

Communist Communism () is a sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology within the socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a socioeconomic order centered on common ownership of the means of production, di ...

beliefs, and Hue, as a child, sold issues of the Party newspaper, ''

L'Humanité (; ) is a French daily newspaper. It was previously an organisation of the SFIO, ''de facto'', and thereafter of the French Communist Party (PCF), and maintains links to the party. Its slogan is "In an ideal world, would not exist." History ...

''. He studied at the technical school in Cormeilles-en-Parisis, sang in a

rock band ''Rock Band'' is a series of rhythm games first released in 2007 and developed by Harmonix. Based on their previous development work from the Guitar Hero, ''Guitar Hero'' series, the main ''Rock Band'' games have players use game controllers mod ...

called ''Les Rapaces'' under the alias ''Willy Barton'', and practiced

judo is an unarmed gendai budō, modern Japanese martial art, combat sport, Olympic sport (since 1964), and the most prominent form of jacket wrestling competed internationally.『日本大百科全書』電子版【柔道】(CD-ROM version of Encyc ...

(winning an intercollegiate medal and receiving a black belt '' nidan''). Age sixteen (1962), he entered the youth section of the PCF, and then the Party itself. After studying in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

and becoming an

orderly In healthcare, an orderly (also known as a ward assistant, nurse assistant or healthcare assistant) is a hospital attendant whose job consists of assisting medical and nursing staff with various nursing and medical interventions. These duties a ...

, he was employed in a psychiatrical institution in

Argenteuil Argenteuil () is a Communes of France, commune in the northwestern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the Kilometre Zero, center of Paris. Argenteuil is a Subprefectures in France, sub-prefecture of the Val-d'Oise Departments of France, ...

. Close to Georges Marchais, Hue climbed the steps in the Party hierarchy, being also elected mayor of

Montigny-lès-Cormeilles Montigny-lès-Cormeilles (, literally ''Montigny near Cormeilles'') is a commune in Val d'Oise, in the northwestern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the center of Paris. History On 30 March 1922, a part of the territory of Montig ...

in 1977. He was to be reelected for all possible terms, until 2001. In February 1981, he was brought briefly under the spotlight, by starting a campaign against a family of immigrants, whom he had accused of selling drugs (a "charge" that was based mainly on

hearsay Hearsay, in a legal forum, is an out-of-court statement which is being offered in court for the truth of what was asserted. In most courts, hearsay evidence is Inadmissible evidence, inadmissible (the "hearsay evidence rule") unless an exception ...

). This seemed strange to the public opinion in France, as Hue had been (and was to remain) a strict follower of the Party lines. In 1987, Hue joined the Party's Central Committee and, in 1990, its

Politburo A politburo () or political bureau is the highest organ of the central committee in communist parties. The term is also sometimes used to refer to similar organs in socialist and Islamist parties, such as the UK Labour Party's NEC or the Poli ...

. At that time, he presided the National association of Communist elects. In 1994, while still largely unknown, Hue was appointed successor by Georges Marchais. Hue changed renamed the office of Secretary General "National Secretary" in an effort to refresh the party's image. He did become quite well known only a few hours later, when he uttered a famous lapsus linguae: ''I'm not nobody's pawn''.

Hue and Party reform

After the fall of the

Berlin Wall The Berlin Wall (, ) was a guarded concrete Separation barrier, barrier that encircled West Berlin from 1961 to 1989, separating it from East Berlin and the East Germany, German Democratic Republic (GDR; East Germany). Construction of the B ...

, faced with the rapid erosion of his party, Robert Hue started a series of political transformations: openness to other political movements, discarding of several doctrines, a double-headed Party executive (with Hue as president and

Marie-George Buffet Marie-George Buffet (née Kosellek; born 7 May 1949) is a French politician. She was the head of the French Communist Party (PCF) from 2001 to 2010. She joined the Party in 1969, and she served in the government as Minister of Youth Affairs an ...

as national secretary), etc. He made his approach public through his book, ''Communisme : la mutation''. Robert Hue's low percentage in 1995 is explained by the competition from Workers' Struggle, but it was still more than André Lajoinie's result in 1988. In 1997, he stood by the idea of ''Gauche Plurielle'' ("Pluralist Left") which brought the leftist politics back in power with

Lionel Jospin Lionel Robert Jospin (; born 12 July 1937) is a French politician who served as Prime Minister of France from 1997 to 2002. Jospin was First Secretary of the French Socialist Party, First Secretary of the Socialist Party from 1995 to 1997 and th ...

; Hue became a deputy, and the government included a number of Communists. However, the Party was falling out of favor with the public: from over 200,000 members in 1998, it dropped to 138,000 in 2001. The Party lost a good deal of allegiances during the 2001 municipal elections. Hue created and assumed in 2001 the title of President of the Party. His successor as National secretary of the party was

. The poor result in 2002 made the far-right leader

Jean-Marie Le Pen Jean Louis Marie Le Pen (20 June 1928 – 7 January 2025), commonly known as Jean-Marie Le Pen (), was a French politician, lawyer and activist. He founded the far-right National Front (now National Rally) party and served as the party's presi ...

cheer the death of Communist strength. In fact, the outcome was so bad that the Party did not have anything to show for the money it had invested in its campaign, and verged on financial collapse. Hue resigned the Presidency while the Party appealed to the generosity of its members. The Presidency was abolished, the National Secretary (Buffet) remaining as the Party's sole leader.

Political career

''European Parliament'' Member of

European Parliament The European Parliament (EP) is one of the two legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it ...

: 1999-2000 (Resignation). Elected in 1999. ''National Assembly of France'' Member of the

for

Val d'Oise Val-d'Oise (, "Vale of the Oise") is a department in the Île-de-France region, Northern France. It was created in 1968 following the split of the Seine-et-Oise department. In 2019, Val-d'Oise had a population of 1,249,674.< ...

: 1997–2002. Elected in 1997. ''Senate of France'' Senator of

: Since 2004. Elected in 2004. ''Regional Council'' Regional councillor of

Île-de-France The Île-de-France (; ; ) is the most populous of the eighteen regions of France, with an official estimated population of 12,271,794 residents on 1 January 2023. Centered on the capital Paris, it is located in the north-central part of the cou ...

: 1986-1988 (Resignation) / 1992-1993 (Resignation). Reelected in 1992. ''General Council'' General councillor of

: 1988-1998 (Resignation). Reelected in 1994. ''Municipal Council'' Mayor of

: 1977-2009 (Resignation). Reelected in 1983, 1989, 1995, 2001, 2008. Municipal councillor of

: 1977-2009 (Resignation). Reelected in 1983, 1989, 1995, 2001, 2008. Political functions President of the

: 2001–2002. National Secretary of the

: 1994–2001.

Works

* ''Histoire d'un village du Parisis des origines à la Révolution'' (1981) * ''Du village à la ville'' (1986) * ''Montigny pendant la Révolution'' (1989) * ''Communisme : la mutation'' (1995) * ''Il faut qu'on se parle'' (1997) * ''Communisme : un nouveau projet'' (1999)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hue, Robert 1946 births Living people People from Cormeilles-en-Parisis French Communist Party politicians Candidates in the 1995 French presidential election Candidates in the 2002 French presidential election Politicians of the French Fifth Republic Senators of Val-d'Oise Mayors of places in Île-de-France French political party founders