Early life and education Gilbert Collard was born in
Marseille and grew up in
Châtel-Guyon. He studied law at
Aix-Marseille University and
Panthéon-Assas University. During his youth, he was a member of the
French Section of the Workers' International (SFIO) and subsequent
Socialist Party (PS) until 1992. His sister was lawyer and activist
Jehanne Collard (1950–2021).
Career and first involvement in politics , as a supporter of Marine Le Pen. Collard started his career as a barrister in Marseille in 1971. He quickly became a well-known lawyer at the national level, often speaking in the media about cases he defended. He most notably had
Laurent Gbagbo,
Charles Pasqua,
Marine Le Pen,
Valérie Bègue, as well as
Paul Aussaresses as clients. In
2001, he was an independent candidate for Mayor of
Vichy. He was elected to the city's council but declined the mandate.
Member of the National Assembly Collard moved to
Gallician, a town in
Gard. He was elected to the National Assembly as a member of the RBM in the
2012 legislative election, at the same time as
Marion Maréchal-Le Pen in
Vaucluse. He succeeded
Étienne Mourrut of the
Union for a Popular Movement, whom he had defeated. Along with
Marion Maréchal and other FN senior executives, Collard took part in the mass demonstrations against
same-sex marriage organized in
Paris by
La Manif pour tous movement in the first half of 2013. Since the
2014 municipal election, Collard has been a councillor of
Saint-Gilles, Gard. On 17 April 2017, during a Marine Le Pen rally for the
2017 French presidential election, an
anti-fascist disrupter threw a
Molotov cocktail towards him; he sustained minor injuries amid a quick reaction by police officers. Gilbert Collard was reelected to the National Assembly in the
2017 legislative election. He officially joined the National Rally, then called National Front, later the same year.
Member of the European Parliament Collard stood as a candidate in the
2019 European Parliament election. Following his election he resigned from the National Assembly, where he was succeeded by his
substitute Nicolas Meizonnet.
Defection to Reconquête On 22 January 2022, Collard along with
Jérôme Rivière left the RN for
Reconquête, the party of the far-right presidential candidate
Éric Zemmour. == References ==