Xavier Bertrand
| Xavier Bertrand | |
|---|---|
 Xavier Bertrand in 2007 | |
| Born |
21 March 1965 Châlons-sur-Marne, France |
| Nationality | French |
| Occupation | Politician |
Political party | UMP |
| Religion | Roman Catholicism |
| Spouse(s) | Emmanuelle Gontier |
| Children | 3 |
Xavier Bertrand (French pronunciation: [ɡzavje bɛʁˈtʁɑ̃]; born 21 March 1965 in Châlons-sur-Marne, Marne) is a French politician and was Minister of Labour, Employment and Health. He was Minister of Health for almost two years in Dominique de Villepin's government under President Jacques Chirac, then Minister of Labour, Social Affairs and Solidarity in François Fillon's second government.[1] He played a foremost role in Nicolas Sarkozy's presidential campaign in 2007.
Biography
Early life
Xavier Bertrand was born on 21 March 1965 in Châlons-sur-Marne, in the Marne département, of the Champagne-Ardenne région of France. His father is Jean-Pierre Bertrand, a bank executive, and his mother, Madeleine Bedin, a bank employee. He studied in Reims, where he obtained a masters in public law, then a Diplôme d'Études Supérieures Spécialisées (DESS) in local administration.
Business career
He started his career as an insurance agent by profession.
Political career
At the age of sixteen, he started volunteering for the Rally for the Republic (RPR), and quickly went into politics.
In 1992, he led the campaign for the 'no' to the Maastricht Treaty in his department, the Aisne in the region of Picardy. He was at the time assistant to the mayor of Saint-Quentin, Aisne. He was one of the pioneers of the 'Saint-Quentin beach', an event similar to Paris-Plage. After having been, from 1997 to 2002, parliamentary assistant to Jacques Braconnier, senator of the Aisne, he was elected deputy at the Assemblée Nationale on 16 June 2002 for the 18th legislature (2002–2007), in the second circonscription of the Aisne. In 2003, Alain Juppé, President for the Union for a Popular Movement (UMP), made him responsible for leading the debate and explaining the reform of the pensions during a "Tour of France". He was chosen as a representative of this law project at the Assemblée Nationale. He was also during this period a part of the 'Club de la boussole,' a group of deputies who called themselves loyal to the then President Jacques Chirac and the then Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin.
During this period, he gained credit and got noticed in the right-wing political milieux. On 31 March 2004, when Raffarin named his third government, he was named Junior Health Minister to the Health Insurance. Under his Senior Minister, Philippe Douste-Blazy, he led the reform on the health insurance. Later on, he pronounced himself strongly in favour of a European Constitution for the referendum on 29 May 2005. After the majority of the French voters' "no" to the referendum, Raffarin resigned as Prime Minister. Under the new PM, Dominique de Villepin, encouraged by the former one, he became the new Senior Minister for Health as Douste-Blazy transferred to Foreign Affairs Minister. His mandate as Health Minister was marked by the chikungunya epidemic and the prohibition to smoke in public places, ratified in 2004.
He announced his support to UMP presidential candidate Nicolas Sarkozy on 29 September 2006. He was named Sarkozy's official spokesperson on 15 January 2007. He quit the government on 26 March to devote himself fully to the campaign. On 18 May 2007, he was named Minister of Labour, Social Affairs and Solidarity in the new Prime Minister François Fillon's government. On 19 June 2007 he was renamed Minister of Labour, Social Affairs and Solidarity in Fillon's second government after the first one handed in its resignation the day before for rehandling after government no.2 Alain Juppé, Minister of Ecology and Development and only 'Ministre d'État' (Senior Minister), resigned after having lost in the legislative race to deputy of Bordeaux. He then served as Minister of Labour, Employment and Health from 2010 to 2012.
Personal life
He married Emmanuelle Gontier, advisor in human resources, on 11 July 1998. They have three children, two of whom are twins. He is a member of the Grand Orient of France since 1995.[2]
References
- ↑ "Assemblée nationale ~ Les députés : M. Xavier Bertrand" (in french). Assemblée nationale. Retrieved 7 june 2010.
- ↑ (French) « Oui je suis franc-maçon » interview by Christophe Barbier, in L'Express, 20 February 2008
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Philippe Douste-Blazy |
Minister of Health and Solidarity 1 June 2005 – 26 March 2007 |
Succeeded by Philippe Bas, Roselyne Bachelot-Narquin |
| Preceded by None |
Minister of Labour, Social Affairs and Solidarity 18 May 2007 – 15 January 2009 |
Succeeded by Brice Hortefeux |
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