Lassalle, who held the mayorship of the
commune of
Lourdios-Ichère from 1977 to 2017, also sat on the
General Council of Pyrénées-Atlantiques from 1982 to 2015, elected in the canton of
Accous. He was one of the general council's vice presidents from 1991 to 2001 under
François Bayrou. Lassalle was elected to the
National Assembly in the
2002 legislative election, where he represents
Pyrénées-Atlantiques's 4th constituency. Since 2002 Lassalle has led the World Mountain People Association, an international network of mountain-dwellers active in more than 70 countries. He also leads a
Haut-Béarn cultural association. On 3 June 2003 Lassalle stood up in the National Assembly during questions to
Minister of the Interior Nicolas Sarkozy and sang the
Occitan anthem
Se Canta in protest at an announcement by Sarkozy concerning the housing of 23
gendarmes tasked with guarding the
Somport tunnel, which links France with
Spain through the
Pyrenees. The village closest to the French end of the tunnel is
Urdos, but it was announced that the gendarmes would be housed in the nearby town of
Oloron-Sainte-Marie, on the grounds that their wives would become bored in Urdos. As he explained in an interview with
France 3 later that day, Lassalle took exception to what he saw as a slur on the Pyrenean village and decided to interrupt the minister with his song. The protest was met by laughter from other deputies, disapproval from the
President of the National Assembly and bemusement from Sarkozy. , 24 January 2010 In 2013, Lassalle walked around France for eight months from April to December to meet people. He was afterwards quoted, "Everywhere I went I witnessed a crisis in the standard of living, a loss of identity and the loss of a sense of a common destiny".
Hunger strike Lassalle undertook a 39-day
hunger strike in March and April 2006, in protest at a threat to jobs in his constituency.
Japanese firm Toyal, which owned a paint factory near
Accous in the
Vallée d'Aspe and employed 150 of Lassalle's constituents, announced plans to open a factory 60 km away. The firm claimed that this relocation of its investment would not result in the closure of the Accous site, but Lassalle's concerns were not assuaged and he embarked on a hunger strike on 7 March. The strike ended on 14 April, when Toyal offered an assurance to Minister of the Interior Nicolas Sarkozy that the factory would not close and that it would continue investment in the area before expanding elsewhere. Earlier the same day, Lassalle had been admitted to hospital in
Garches, in the western suburbs of Paris, prompting intervention by
President Jacques Chirac,
Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin and Sarkozy. Lassalle had lost of weight over the course of the strike.
2017 presidential campaign In
2017, Lassalle ran for
President of France. He received support from the Association des maires ruraux de France (Association of rural mayors of France). His platform was centre-right, with tenets of agrarianism, protectionism and ecological preservation. His campaign spots included, among other things, him mowing his lawn shirtless. In the 4 April 2017 televised debate on
BFM TV, he introduced himself as the "son of a shepherd, brother of a shepherd, [former shepherd] myself". After he arrived late at the television studio, several news outlets took a critical stance at his performance. However, following the debate he quickly became the most searched candidate on
Google. Lassalle ultimately received 435,301 votes, 1.21% of the electorate, which ranked him seventh out of eleven candidates. Lassalle's support disproportionately came from rural and southwest constituencies. His campaign cost €230,000, the least of any candidate. The bank from which he borrowed the money took his credit card as a guarantee, forcing his mother-in-law to provide groceries for the family during Lassalle's campaign.
Aftermath of the 2017 election 's Jardin des Quatre-Colonnes on the first day of the
15th National Assembly, 21 June 2017 In the
2017 legislative election, Résistons! fielded 21 parliamentary candidates, but only Lassalle was elected. In a 2017 interview with
Jean-Jacques Bourdin, Lassalle stated President
Emmanuel Macron had offered him to be
Minister of Territorial Cohesion but he turned the offer down, citing policy differences. The
Constitutional Council approved his second presidential candidacy on 17 February 2022. In early 2022, Lassalle appeared doubtful about his prospects, as he said: "Macron will be reelected as things stand. The financial powers that have taken over our country have already decided that". A few days later, he publicly stated he was thinking about withdrawing his candidacy for the presidency, citing a lack of sufficient media coverage. He openly criticised his treatment in mainstream media after he failed to be invited to a political evening show on
TF1. Lassalle ultimately received just over 3 percent of the vote, a significant improvement over his 2017 showing, with his strongest support coming from Corsica, Nouvelle-Aquitaine and
Occitanie. Consequently, it is also in
Occitania that his party will have the most candidates in the legislative elections. during the 2022 French parliamentary elections Lassalle received more votes than
Socialist Party candidate
Anne Hidalgo. He made no endorsement in the second round, saying he trusts the French people to do what is right. On the day of the vote, he published a video recorded at the polling station in Lourdios-Ichère in which he acts as if he is about to vote, then retracts and stated his
refusal to participate in the vote. In doing so, he violated the French electoral code, which prohibites "messages of an electoral propaganda nature on the eve and on election day", leading to all ballots in Lourdios-Ichère being invalidated. He did not run in the
2022 French legislative election, instead endorsing his brother for the seat, which was ultimately won by
Socialist Party candidate
Iñaki Echaniz. Lassalle ran in the
2024 European Parliament election, where his
Rural Alliance list received 2.35% of the vote, falling short of the 5% threshold required to gain seats. He ran in the
2024 snap legislative election to reclaim his former seat but came third in both rounds of voting, losing to the incumbent,
Iñaki Echaniz. ==Personal life==