Brigitte Kuster (née Thomas, born 12 April 1959) is a French politician who served as

Member Member may refer to: * Military jury, referred to as "Members" in military jargon * Element (mathematics), an object that belongs to a mathematical set * In object-oriented programming, a member of a class ** Field (computer science), entries in ...

of the

National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the rep ...

for the 4th constituency of

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

from 2017 to 2022. A member of The Republicans (LR), her constituency covers parts of the

16th 16 (sixteen) is the natural number following 15 and preceding 17. 16 is a composite number, and a square number, being 42 = 4 × 4. It is the smallest number with exactly five divisors, its proper divisors being , , and . In English speech, ...

and 17th arrondissements. Kuster previously served as

Mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well ...

of the 17th arrondissement from 2008 to 2017.

Political career

A journalist by occupation, she started her career at

Europe 1 Europe 1, formerly known as Europe n° 1, is a privately owned radio station created in 1955. Owned and operated by Lagardère Active, a subsidiary of the Lagardère Group, it is one of the leading radio broadcasting stations in France and its pr ...

before becoming a public servant at the Ministry of the Environment. She was elected to the

Council of Paris The Council of Paris (French: ''Conseil de Paris'') is the deliberative body responsible for governing Paris, the capital of France. It possesses both the powers of a municipal council (''conseil municipal'') and those of a departmental counci ...

in the 2001 municipal election and became Mayor of the 17th arrondissement seven years later. In January 2016, Kuster was appointed party spokesperson under the leadership of Nicolas Sarkozy, alongside

Guillaume Peltier Guillaume Peltier (; born 27 August 1976) is a French politician, former teacher and business leader who has represented the 2nd constituency of the Loir-et-Cher department in the National Assembly since 2017. He has also served in the Depart ...

, Valérie Debord and Guillaume Larrivé. She retained the position until December 2017. In Parliament, where she succeeded

Bernard Debré Bernard Debré (30 September 194413 September 2020) was a French urologist at Hôpital Cochin and a member ( deputy) of the National Assembly of France. He was one of the representatives of the city of Paris, and was a member of the Union ...

after the 2017 legislative election, Kuster served on the Committee on Cultural Affairs and Education. In addition to her committee assignments, she is part of the French-Cambodian Parliamentary Friendship Group, the French-Haitian Parliamentary Friendship Group and the French-Tunisian Parliamentary Friendship Group. In a ranking published by '' Le Parisien'' in early 2021, Kuster was ranked as most active lawmaker, having attended more parliamentary sessions than any other member of the National Assembly between 2017 and 2020. She lost her seat in the second round in the

2022 French legislative election Legislative elections in France were held on 12 and 19 June 2022 to elect the 577 members of the 16th National Assembly of the Fifth French Republic. The elections took place following the 2022 French presidential election, which was held in A ...

Political positions

In the 2016 The Republicans presidential primary, Kuster endorsed Nicolas Sarkozy as the party's candidate for the office of

President of France The president of France, officially the president of the French Republic (french: Président de la République française), is the executive head of state of France, and the commander-in-chief of the French Armed Forces. As the presidency i ...

. In the Republicans' 2017 leadership election, she endorsed

Laurent Wauquiez Laurent Timothée Marie Wauquiez (; born 12 April 1975) is a French politician who has presided over the Regional Council of Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes since 2016. He is a member of The Republicans (LR), which he led from 2017 to 2019 following the ...

. Ahead of the 2022 presidential elections, she publicly declared her support for Michel Barnier as the Republicans’ candidate.Emmanuel Galiero (1 October 2021)
Présidentielle 2022 : Michel Barnier engrange le soutien de 51 parlementaires de droite
''

Le Figaro ''Le Figaro'' () is a French daily morning newspaper founded in 1826. It is headquartered on Boulevard Haussmann in the 9th arrondissement of Paris. The oldest national newspaper in France, ''Le Figaro'' is one of three French newspapers of r ...

''.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kuster, Brigitte 1959 births Living people The Republicans (France) politicians People from Saint-Cloud Politicians from Île-de-France Mayors of arrondissements of Paris Deputies of the 15th National Assembly of the French Fifth Republic Women mayors of places in France Women members of the National Assembly (France) 21st-century French women politicians