Local politics Alliot-Marie started her electoral career in 1983 as Municipal Councillor for the
Basque-area village of
Ciboure (in the former province of
Labourd and now in the
Pyrénées-Atlantiques department), located south of her father's political base of
Biarritz, near
Saint-Jean-de-Luz; she stayed on until 1988. In 1989, she was elected to another council, this time in Biarritz, alongside her father. In 1990, as part of the municipal majority behind the first Deputy Mayor
Didier Borotra of the
UDF-
CDS, she passed draft legislation in opposition to build a hotel-casino on the front of the main beach of the town, She left the council at the same time that her father was defeated as Mayor. She then served as Mayor of Saint-Jean-de-Luz from 1995 until 2002, and as First Deputy Mayor since then. She was also a member and a Vice President of the General Council of
Pyrénées-Atlantiques between 1994 and 2001.
National politics Alliot-Marie was elected to the
National Assembly to represent
Pyrénées-Atlantiques in 1986 as a member of the
Gaullist Rally for the Republic (RPR). She has been seating in the Assembly ever since, except when she sat in the government; this is due to the French law on
Cumul des mandats (literally: "accumulation of mandates") that prohibit
cabinet ministers from simultaneously serving as deputies in the
French National Assembly; her
alternate as Deputy was
Daniel Poulou, who served from 1993 to 1995 and again from 2002 to 2011 when she served as Cabinet Minister. She served as Secretary of State (junior minister) for Schools under the
Minister of National Education in
Jacques Chirac's second government from 1986 to 1988 and as
Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports in
Édouard Balladur's government from 1993 to 1995. From 1989 to 1993, she was a
Member of the European Parliament as a member of the
political group European Democratic Alliance.
President of the RPR In 1999, "MAM" entered the challenge for the presidency of the RPR against Chirac's candidate and, to most insiders' surprise, won by a landslide, becoming the first woman to lead a major French political party. She remained President of the party until 2002 when it merged with the
Union for a Popular Movement (UMP), a merger she opposed at first.
Defense ministership Michèle Alliot-Marie meets with US Secretary of Defense
Donald H. Rumsfeld in
The Pentagon on 17 October 2002. Alliot-Marie and Rumsfeld are meeting to discuss defense issues of mutual interest. Alliot-Marie was
Minister of Defense during Jacques Chirac's second presidential term, France's first woman in this position. Between May and June 2002, she was also in charge of
Veterans' Affairs.
Forbes magazine declared her the 57th
most powerful woman in the world in 2006 and the 11th in 2007. She kept the Defense portfolio in
Jean-Pierre Raffarin's three governments and in
Dominique de Villepin's government. She remained a leading Gaullist after the RPR merger into the UMP, and created her own movement within the party, Le Chêne (The Oak). Although she publicly considered competing with
Nicolas Sarkozy for the UMP nomination in the
2007 presidential election, she ruled herself out of the running in January 2007 and endorsed Sarkozy. Sarkozy and Alliot-Marie had a history of disagreements in the party's National Council. she was specifically criticised for allegedly sending
teargas to Tunisia as late as January 2011. Before leaving office, she proposed sending
paratroopers to quell the protests. Her situation embarrassing the government, she resigned as Foreign Minister on 27 February 2011 after only a few months in office. She was succeeded by outgoing Defense Minister and former Prime Minister
Alain Juppé. In the
2012 French legislative elections, she lost her seat as
Deputy (MP) for the
6th constituency of
Pyrénées-Atlantiques to
Socialist Party candidate in the second round, 48.38% to Alaux's 51.62% share of the vote.
Political career Ministerial offices • Secretary of State for Education: 1986–1988. • Minister of Youth and Sports: 1993–1995. • Minister of Defense: 2002–2007. • Minister of the Interior, Overseas Territories and Territorial Communities : 2007–2009. • Keeper of the Seals, Minister of State, Minister of Justice and Freedoms: 2009–2010. • Minister of State, Minister of Foreign and European Affairs: 2010–2011 (resignation).
Electoral mandates European parliament • Member of the
European Parliament : 1989-1992 (resignation); since 2014. Elected in 1989, 2014.
National Assembly • Deputy to the
National Assembly for
Pyrénées-Atlantiques (6th constituency): elected in March 1986 (became minister in March 1986) / 1988–1993 / elected in March 1993 (became minister in 1993) / 1995–2002 (became minister in 2002) / reelected in 2007 (remained a minister) / 2011-2012 (defeated). Elected in 1986, reelected in 1988, 1993, 1995, 1997, 2002, 2007.
General Council • Vice President of the General Council of
Pyrénées-Atlantiques: 1994–2001. • General Councillor of
Pyrénées-Atlantiques: 1994–2001.
Municipal Council • Mayor of
Saint-Jean-de-Luz: 1995-2002 (resignation). Reelected in 2001. • Deputy Mayor of Saint-Jean-de-Luz : Since 2002. Reelected in 2008. • Municipal Councillor of Saint-Jean-de-Luz: since 1995, reelected in 2001, 2008. • Municipal Councillor of
Biarritz: 1989–1991. • Municipal Councillor of
Ciboure: 1983–1988.
Party political offices • President of the
Rally for the Republic: 1999–2002 (party dissolved). Elected in 1999. • Vice President of the
Union for a Popular Movement: 2009–2012. • Vice President of
The Republicans National Council: since 2015. ==Controversy==