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Richard Ferrand (French pronunciation:[ʁiʃaʁfɛʁɑ̃]; born 1 July 1962) is a French politician of La République En Marche! (LREM) who served as President of the National Assembly from 2018 to 2022. He had served as a member of the National Assembly for Finistère's 6th constituency from 2012 to 2022.[1][2] A longtime member of the Socialist Party, he was LREM's General Secretary from October 2016. He briefly served as Minister for the Cohesion of Territories between May and June 2017 before resigning due to nepotism accusations. Following his resignation, he became the leader of the party's group in the National Assembly in June 2017 and then was elected to the Chamber's Presidency in September 2018.
After leaving university, Ferrand worked as a journalist for multiple publications including Center Presse, Auto Moto, Circuler, Vie publique, La Dépêche du Midi[3] and Le Monde.[4] In 1991, Ferrand became the communications advisor for Kofi Yamgnane,[5] the then- secretary of state to the Minister of Social Affairs and Integration.[6]
Political career
Early beginnings
Ferrand joined the Socialist Party (PS) in 1980 and was elected as the councillor in the township of Carhaix-Plouguer in 1998 as his first elected office. In the municipal elections in 2001 and 2008, Ferrand lost in both times, obtaining 31% of the vote in 2008.[7]
In the 2010 regional elections, Ferrard was one of the PS nominees for the Finistère department. He became councillor for the region on 21 March 2010 and has since chaired the socialist and related group.[8]
In 2007, Ferrand ran for Finistère's 6th constituency under the PS banner. He lost to Christian Ménard who achieved 50.19% of the vote.[9] In 2012, Ferrand ran in the same constituency for PS where he got 32.2% of the vote in the first round and then 58.3% of the vote in the second round.[10]
Member of the National Assembly
In the National Assembly, Ferrand was a member of the SER (Socialist, Ecologist and Republican) group and sits on the Social Affairs Committee. He has never worked in the agricultural or agri-food sector, but is co-chairman of the agricultural and agro-food industries group. He particularly involves himself in social issues and the use of cheaper labour than currently available.[citation needed]
While on the Social Affairs Committee, Ferrand was an EU-appointed rapporteur on resolutions around workers and the use of cheaper European labor.[11] In his report, he stated that European workers feel detached due to the lack of social cohesion and the use of cheaper labour to replace them. He advocates measures to limit the replacement of workers.
Despite Ferrand's opposition to the Bonnets Rouges movement against the eco-tax, which was started by the Fillon government and further expanded upon by the Ayrault Government,[12] he took a stand against the expansions, saying they underline the complexity of the tax system. He supports amendments to the eco-tax. After there was a postponement of the eco-tax, Ferrand and other Breton politicians asked Minister of Energy, Ségolène Royal to rethink the tax plan.[13]
On 3 October 2014, the Prime Minister Manuel Valls appointed Ferrard along with the minister of economy, Emmanuel Macron to work on a plan to reform regulations based around labour. He was tasked with looking at the "legal framework that restricts labour from developing" while paying attention to the different situations from many different regions.[14] After consulting many trade unions, experts and other associations, he submitted the report that stresses that reforming the regulated labor market is needed but "reform, don't break, this includes twenty-eight proposals that are aimed particularly at promoting young people's access to the job market."[15]
This reform was eventually put to the National Assembly where it was amended by the members of the assembly which resulted in the "Act for Growth, Activity and Equal Opportunity" or the Macron law [fr] which was lobbied against by unions and other organizations.[16]
Ferrand was then appointed as the general rapporteur, one of the biggest reforms within the first five years of President Hollande's term with over 300 articles and sectors such as: transport, savings, labor courts, housings and qualified professions being reformed. More than one hundred and eleven hours went into debate in the National Assembly over the reform. The text was eventually adopted including measures that were originally not there but added during parliamentary debate such as: Letting commercial stores open on Sundays, liberalization of transport services and encouraging qualified professions to allow young people into the profession.[citation needed]
General Secretary of En Marche!
On 16 October 2016, Ferrand was appointed General Secretary of En Marche! by Emmanuel Macron, someone he worked with closely when he was the minister for Economy.[17] The following month, he resigned from leading the PS group in the regional council for Finistère,[18] and confirmed that he quit the PS on 9 May 2017.[19]
Minister for the Cohesion of Territories
On 17 May 2017, Ferrand was appointed Minister for the Cohesion of Territories in the First Philippe government, a new Ministry which merged the former Housing, City and Territory Management ministries in one brand-new ministry.
Shortly into his tenure, he faced accusations of nepotism and, on 1 June 2017, the Brest Prosecutor opened preliminary investigations into the allegations.
On 19 June 2017, just a day after easily getting reelected as MP in his Finistère constituency in the second round of the 2017 parliamentary elections, Ferrand resigned from Cabinet at the President's request. Macron asked for him to step down as Minister and lead the LREM parliamentary party in the National Assembly instead.
Leader of the REM parliamentary group
On 24 June 2017, it was announced that Ferrand was officially elected leader of La République En Marche! group in the National Assembly with 306 votes and 2 abstentions.[20]
From November 2017 to June 2022, Ferrand has been part of LREM's executive board under the leadership of the party's successive chairmen Christophe Castaner and Stanislas Guerini.[21]
President of the National Assembly
On 12 September 2018, after being selected as the majority's candidate in an internal primary, Ferrand was elected President of the National Assembly with 254 votes out of 484, replacing LREM colleague François de Rugy who had just been appointed Minister for Ecological and Solidary Transition in the Second Philippe Government.
As presiding officer of the Assembly, he oversaw a sweeping reform of the lower house's parliamentary procedure and rules in May 2019. Later that year, in September, he caused controversy by allegedly twisting the result of a show of hands on a majority amendment that would have been defeated otherwise.
In the 2022 French legislative election, Ferrand lost his seat in the French National Assembly to Socialist Mélanie Thomin.[2] On this occasion, he became the third incumbent presiding officer of the French lower house in history to lose reelection as MP after predecessors Raymond Forni in 2002 and Armand Marrast in 1849 (under the French Second Republic).
Later career
After leaving the National Assembly, Ferrand set up a consulting firm.[23]
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