Jacques Peyrat

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jacques Peyrat (born October 18, 1931 at Belfort) is a right-wing French politician and lawyer who has been mayor of Nice since 1995 and senator from the Alpes-Maritimes since 1998.

Jacques Peyrat came from a military family that settled in Nice in 1946 where he studied law and letters. In 1947 at the age of 16 he joined the RPF (Rassemblement du peuple français) the political party that General de Gaulle created that year.

In 1953 Peyrat enlisted in a parachute battalion of the French Foreign Legion. It was in French Indochina that he met and became friends with the far-right politician Jean-Marie Le Pen.

Upon his return to civilian life, Peyrat united his social and professional interests. His presidency of parachute and aeronautical groups won him a silver medal for youth and sports.

In 1962 Peyrat began his political career, at first in the CNI party (CNI stands for Centre national des indépendants et paysans), and then in the Républicains indépendants party of Valéry Giscard d'Estaing as a Nice municipal councilor. At the same time, he practiced law with a speciality in penal law.

In 1973 Peyrat rejoined the Front National, Le Pen's far-right party, and was a Front National deputy from 1986 to 1988, general counsel of the Canton of Nice 14 from 1992 to 1998 and regional counselor.

In 1995 Jacques Peyrat left the Front National and was elected Mayor of Nice with the slogan "Divers droite" (figuratively, An Alternative Right). He was reelected in 2001.

In 1996 he rejoined the RPR. Since September 27, 1998 he has been senator first with then RPR, then with the center-right UMP (Union pour un Mouvement Populaire) from the Alpes-Maritimes. In 2002, Peyrat founded CANCA (La Communauté d'agglomération de Nice-Côte d'Azur) and became president of it.

He is also a member of the Superior Council of the Military Reserve (Conseil supérieur de la réserve militaire) and a member of the High Court of Justice (Haute Cour de Justice).