Christophe Béchu (born 11 June 1974) is a French politician who has been serving as
Minister for Ecological Transition and Cohesion of the Territories in the
government
A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state.
In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government is a ...
of
Prime Minister
A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...
Élisabeth Borne
Élisabeth Borne (; born 18 April 1961) is a French politician who has served as Prime Minister of France since May 2022. She is a member of President Emmanuel Macron's party Renaissance.
A civil engineer, government official and manager of sta ...
since 2022.
Béchu previously was the
President of the General Council
In France, the President of the Departmental Council ( French: ''Président du Conseil départemental'') is the locally elected head of the departmental council, the assembly governing a department in France. The position is elected by the depar ...
of the
Maine-et-Loire
Maine-et-Loire () is a department in the Loire Valley in the Pays de la Loire region in Western France. It is named after the two rivers, Maine and the Loire. It borders Mayenne and Sarthe to the north, Loire-Atlantique to the west, Indre-e ...
department from 2004 to 2014. He briefly 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
2009
File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...
until 2011, representing the
West France constituency.
A former member of the centre-right
Union for a Popular Movement
The Union for a Popular Movement (french: link=no, Union pour un mouvement populaire, ; UMP, ) was a centre-right political party in France that was one of the two major contemporary political parties in France along with the centre-left Social ...
,
later the
Republicans (LR), and the
DL, Béchu became the secretary general of
Horizons in 2021.
Béchu briefly served as
Minister of Relations with Local Authorities from 20 May to 4 July 2022.
[Marius Bocquet (20 May 2022)]
Gouvernement : Christophe Béchu, le premier des philippistes, nommé ministre délégué aux Collectivités territoriales
''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 reco ...
''.
Political career
Béchu has represented the
Canton of Angers-Nord-Ouest since 2001, and was re-elected there during the
2008 French cantonal elections
Cantonal elections to elect half the membership of the general councils of France's 100 departments were held on 9 and 16 March 2008. These elections coincided with the municipal elections, in which the left did well.
Electoral system
The canto ...
. However, he was narrowly defeated by the incumbent
PS 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 a ...
of
Angers
Angers (, , ) is a city in western France, about southwest of Paris. It is the prefecture of the Maine-et-Loire department and was the capital of the province of Anjou until the French Revolution. The inhabitants of both the city and the prov ...
,
Jean-Claude Antonini, in the
2008 municipal elections.
Member of the European Parliament, 2009–2011
In 2009, the UMP selected him to lead the UMP list in the
West
West or Occident is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sunset, Sun sets on the Earth.
Etymology
The word "west" is a Germanic languages, German ...
constituency ahead of the
2009 European elections. He 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 ...
as a result. His list won 27.16% of the vote and three MEPs. In parliament, he served on the
Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development The Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development (AGRI) is a committee of the European Parliament.
Responsibilities of the Committee
AGRI is the European Parliament committee responsible for:
#The operation and development of the Common Agricul ...
. In addition to his committee assignments, he was part of the parliament's delegation for relations with Japan. He resigned in January 2011.
Béchu lost the
regional election of 2010 to become President of
Pays de la Loire
Pays de la Loire (; ; br, Broioù al Liger) is one of the 18 regions of France, in the west of the mainland. It was created in the 1950s to serve as a zone of influence for its capital, Nantes, one of a handful of "balancing metropolises" ().
...
region, but was elected as a regional councillor. In the
2011 elections
The following elections occurred in the year 2011.
* Local electoral calendar 2011
* National electoral calendar 2011
* 2011 United Nations Security Council election
Africa
* 2011 Beninese presidential election
* 2011 Beninese parliamentary el ...
, he was elected as a Senator of
Maine-et-Loire
Maine-et-Loire () is a department in the Loire Valley in the Pays de la Loire region in Western France. It is named after the two rivers, Maine and the Loire. It borders Mayenne and Sarthe to the north, Loire-Atlantique to the west, Indre-e ...
, and thereafter resigned from regional council of Pays-de-Loire.
Mayor of Angers, 2014–2022
During the
2014 French municipal elections
The French municipal elections of 2014 were held on 23 March of that year with a second round of voting, where necessary, on 30 March to elect the municipal councils of France's communes. The first task of each newly constituted municipal council i ...
, Béchu competed against Frédéric Béatse, incumbent, and became the new mayor of Angers on 4 April 2014. Béchu was
re-elected in 2020.
In 2016, Béchu caused controversy when he requested the removal of posters that had been installed as part of a governmental
HIV/AIDS
Human immunodeficiency virus infection and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) is a spectrum of conditions caused by infection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), a retrovirus. Following initial infection an individual ...
prevention campaign "not to expose a young public to a message they cannot understand“; at the time,
Minister of Health A health minister is the member of a country's government typically responsible for protecting and promoting public health and providing welfare and other social security services.
Some governments have separate ministers for mental health.
Coun ...
Marisol Touraine
Marisol Touraine (; born 7 March 1959) is a French politician who served as Minister of Social Affairs and Health under Prime Ministers Jean-Marc Ayrault,Angelique ChrisafisWomen in the French cabinet ''The Guardian'', 18 May 2012Olivier Auguste ...
denounced Béchu as "
homophobe
Homophobia encompasses a range of negative attitudes and feelings toward homosexuality or people who are identified or perceived as being lesbian, gay or bisexual. It has been defined as contempt, prejudice, aversion, hatred or antipathy, ma ...
."
Other activities
*
(AFITF), chair of the board of directors
*
Dexia Crédit Local, member of the board of directors (2007–2009)
Political positions
In 2019, Béchu publicly declared his support for incumbent
President
President most commonly refers to:
*President (corporate title)
*President (education), a leader of a college or university
*President (government title)
President may also refer to:
Automobiles
* Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...
Emmanuel Macron
Emmanuel Macron (; born 21 December 1977) is a French politician who has served as President of France since 2017. ''Ex officio'', he is also one of the two Co-Princes of Andorra. Prior to his presidency, Macron served as Minister of Econ ...
.
Voici la tribune des 72 maires et élus locaux de droite et du centre qui annoncent leur soutien à Macron
''Le Journal du Dimanche
''Le Journal du dimanche'' (English: ''Sunday's newspaper'') is a French weekly newspaper published on Sundays in France.
History and profile
''Le Journal du Dimanche'' was created by Pierre Lazareff in 1948. He was managing editor of ''France ...
'', 8 June 2019.
In 2022, Bechu sponsored regulations to re-allow lark hunting in France. This is after previous regulations were struck down as being a violation of EU law.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bechu, Christophe
1974 births
Living people
People from Angers
Liberal Democracy (France) politicians
The Republicans (France) politicians
Modern and Humanist France
French Senators of the Fifth Republic
Mayors of places in Pays de la Loire
MEPs for West France 2009–2014
Union for a Popular Movement MEPs
Sciences Po alumni
Senators of Maine-et-Loire
Horizons politicians
Members of the Borne government