Rodolphe Thomas (born 8 August 1962) is a French politician and member of the

MoDem The Democratic Movement (, ; MoDem ) is a centre to centre-right political party in France, whose main ideological trends are liberalism and Christian democracy, and that is characterised by a strong pro-Europeanist stance. MoDem was establis ...

. Born in Falaise, he moved to the

new town New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz (South Korean band), The Boyz * New (album), ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 ** New (Paul McCartney song), "New" (Paul McCartney song), 2013 * New (EP), ''New'' (EP), ...

Hérouville-Saint-Clair Hérouville-Saint-Clair () is a commune in the Calvados department in the Normandy region in northwestern France. It is a suburb of the city of Caen, and lies adjacent to it in a northeasterly direction, along the west side of the Canal de ...

in 1966, where his parents opened one of the first stores in the city. After one term in the municipal council, sitting on the right-wing opposition benches, he won a surprise victory in the traditionally

Socialist Socialism is an economic ideology, economic and political philosophy encompassing diverse Economic system, economic and social systems characterised by social ownership of the means of production, as opposed to private ownership. It describes ...

town of

in the 2001 local elections, mostly due to the division of the left. He became first vice-president of the Agglomeration community of Caen la Mer. In the 2002 legislative election, he defeated the Socialist incumbent Louis Mexandeau in the Calvados's 2nd constituency as a

Union for French Democracy The Union for French Democracy ( ; UDF) was a centre-right political party in France. The UDF was founded in 1978 as an electoral alliance to support President Valéry Giscard d'Estaing in order to counterbalance the Gaullist preponderance over ...

(UDF) candidate. He was politically close to

Jean-Louis Borloo Jean-Louis Marie Borloo (; born 7 April 1951) is a French politician who served as president of the Union of Democrats and Independents (UDI) from 2012 to 2014. He also was Minister of the Economy, Finance and Employment in 2007 and Minister of ...

, but also a close supporter of UDF leader

François Bayrou François René Jean Lucien Bayrou (; born 25 May 1951) is a French politician who has served as Prime Minister of France since December 2024. He has presided over the European Democratic Party (EDP) since 2004 and the Democratic Movement (France ...

. However, he supported

Nicolas Sarkozy Nicolas Paul Stéphane Sarközy de Nagy-Bocsa ( ; ; born 28 January 1955) is a French politician who served as President of France from 2007 to 2012. In 2021, he was found guilty of having tried to bribe a judge in 2014 to obtain information ...

in the second round of the 2007 presidential election and ran for re-election supported by the Presidential Majority and Bayrou's new party, the

. He was, however, defeated by Laurence Dumont (PS).Le MoDem a largement aidé les candidats de gauche
''

Le Point ''Le Point'' () is a French weekly political and conservative news magazine published in Paris. It is one of the three major French news magazines. ''Le Point'' was founded in 1972 by former journalists of ''L'Express'' and quickly rose to be ...

'' (in French) Following his defeat, he became a closer supporter of Bayrou and ran simultaneously for re-election as

Mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporation, municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilitie ...

of Hérouville-Saint-Clair in the 2008 municipal elections but also against a PS incumbent in Caen's 6th canton in the cantonal elections. He was re-elected Mayor with over 53% of the votes by the first round, and won his cantonal race in Caen-6 in the runoff. In 2009, he was selected to be the MoDem's candidate in Lower Normandy for the 2010 regional elections.

References

1962 births Living people People from Falaise, Calvados Politicians from Normandy Union for French Democracy politicians Democratic Movement (France) politicians Mayors of places in Normandy Deputies of the 12th National Assembly of the French Fifth Republic {{France-politician-MoDem-stub