Angélique Delahaye (born 22 February 1963) is a French

agricultural Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating Plant, plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of Sedentism, sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of Domestication, domesticated species created food ...

trade union A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment", ch. I such as attaining better wages and benefits ( ...

ist and

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...

. She was the president of the Fédération nationale des producteurs de légumes (English: National Federation of Vegetable Producers) from 2001 to 2012, and a member of the board of directors of the

Fédération nationale des syndicats d'exploitants agricoles The Fédération nationale des syndicats d'exploitants agricoles (English: National Federation of Agricultural Holders' Unions) is a French umbrella organisation charged with the national representation of 20,000 local agricultural unions and 22 re ...

(English: National Federation of Agricultural Holders' Unions). She served as a

Member of the European Parliament A Member of the European Parliament (MEP) is a person who has been elected to serve as a popular representative in the European Parliament. When the European Parliament (then known as the Common Assembly of the ECSC) first met in 1952, its ...

from 2014 to 2019, and was mayor of

Saint-Martin-le-Beau Saint-Martin-le-Beau () is a commune in the Indre-et-Loire department in central France. Population See also *Communes of the Indre-et-Loire department The following is a list of the 272 communes of the Indre-et-Loire department of France. ...

from 2014 to 2020.

Early life and agricultural career

Delahaye was born in

Lyon Lyon,, ; Occitan: ''Lion'', hist. ''Lionés'' also spelled in English as Lyons, is the third-largest city and second-largest metropolitan area of France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of t ...

and grew up in

Soisy-sur-Seine Soisy-sur-Seine (, literally ''Soisy on Seine'') is a commune in the Essonne department in Île-de-France in northern France. Population Inhabitants of Soisy-sur-Seine are known as ''Soiséens'' in French. See also *Communes of the Essonne dep ...

. She started her agricultural career in 1989, running a family vegetable farm with her husband Thierry in

Touraine Touraine (; ) is one of the traditional provinces of France. Its capital was Tours. During the political reorganization of French territory in 1790, Touraine was divided between the departments of Indre-et-Loire, :Loir-et-Cher, Indre and Vie ...

. In 1991, she joined the board of directors of the Fédération nationale des producteurs de légumes (FNPL) (English: National Federation of Vegetable Producers), a branch of the

(FNSEA) (English: National Federation of Agricultural Holders' Unions). She became president of the FNPL, and thus a member of the board of directors of the FNSEA, in 2001, holding the position until 2012. Since 2013 she has also been president of Solaal (Association Solidarité des producteurs agricoles et agroalimentaires) (English: Solidarity association of agricultural and agro-food producers), and has received the ranks of Knight and Officer of the

Legion of Honour The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon, ...

for her work, having been most recently promoted to Officer in July 2021.

Political career

Delahaye entered politics in 2010, supported by

Hervé Novelli Hervé Novelli (born 6 March 1949 in Paris) is a French politician of Italian origin, and a past member of the UDF group. He was a deputé in the Assemblée Nationale for the Indre-et-Loire département from 2002 to 2007, having previously been ...

, with whom she had previously worked when he was Secretary of State for Trade. She was elected a regional councilor for

Centre-Val de Loire Centre-Val de Loire (, , ,In isolation, ''Centre'' is pronounced . ) or Centre Region (french: région Centre, link=no, ), as it was known until 2015, is one of the eighteen administrative regions of France. It straddles the middle Loire Valley ...

in the

2010 French regional elections Regional elections were held in France on 14 and 21 March 2010. At stake were the presidencies of each of France's 26 ''régions'', which, though they do not have legislative autonomy, manage sizable budgets. The elections resulted in significan ...

, and subsequently resigned from her position in the FNSEA. In March 2014, she was elected mayor of

at the head of a UMP majority. In May 2014, Delahaye was elected to the

European Parliament The European Parliament (EP) is one of the legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it adopts ...

, with the support of

Bruno Le Maire Bruno Le Maire (; born 15 April 1969) is a French politician and former diplomat who has served as Minister of the Economy and Finance since 2017 under President Emmanuel Macron. A former member of The Republicans (LR), which he left in 2017 to ...

and

Jean-François Copé Jean-François Copé (; born 5 May 1964) is a French politician serving as Mayor of Meaux since 1995 with an interruption from 2002 to 2005. He was Government Spokesman between 2002 and 2007, when assumed other tenures in the government—inclu ...

who campaigned for

Brice Hortefeux Brice Hortefeux (born 11 May 1958) is a conservative French politician. He was Minister of the Interior, Overseas Territories and Territorial collectivities. He was previously Minister for Labour, Labour Relations, the Family, Solidarity and Ur ...

to make her his running mate. In January 2020, Delahaye announced she would be running for a second term as mayor of Saint-Martin-le-Beau. She was defeated by Alain Schnel in the first round of voting in March, receiving 39.03% of votes.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Delahaye, Angelique 1963 births Living people MEPs for Massif-central–Centre 2014–2019 21st-century women MEPs for France Trade unionists from Lyon French women trade unionists French trade union leaders Women trade union leaders Politicians from Lyon French women farmers Women mayors of places in France The Republicans (France) MEPs Union for a Popular Movement MEPs 20th-century French farmers 20th-century women farmers 21st-century French farmers 21st-century women farmers