Hermeline Malherbe, born Hermeline Laurent on February 18, 1969 in Carvin (Pas-de-Calais), is a French politician. A member of the Socialist Party, she has been president of the departmental council of Pyrénées-Orientales since November 21, 2010 and

senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

for

Pyrénées-Orientales Pyrénées-Orientales (; ca, Pirineus Orientals ; oc, Pirenèus Orientals ; ), also known as Northern Catalonia, is a department of the region of Occitania, Southern France, adjacent to the northern Spanish frontier and the Mediterranean Sea. ...

from 2014 to 2017, the day after the death of Christian Bourquin, for whom she was the substitute.

Biography

A former member of the Revolutionary Communist Youth (), she joined

Ecology Generation Ecology Generation (french: Génération écologie) is one of the four green parties in France, along with Europe Ecology – The Greens (), the Independent Ecological Movement (), and Cap Écologie. Founded in 1990 by Brice Lalonde, Environment ...

when it was created in 1990. She became a socialist member in 2007 in the Catalan federation of the Socialist Party. She was excluded in 2010 because of her support for

Georges Frêche Georges Frêche (July 9, 1938 – October 24, 2010) was a French politician. He served as President of the Languedoc-Roussillon Region from 2004 until his death: prior to that, he had been mayor of Montpellier for 27 years, and was also a fo ...

during the regional elections and then reinstated in November 2011. Hermeline Malherbe was elected for the first time, in

Seine-et-Marne Seine-et-Marne () is a Departments of France, department in the Île-de-France Regions of France, region in Northern France. Named after the rivers Seine and Marne (river), Marne, it is the region's largest department with an area of 5,915 square ...

in 2001 as the municipal councilor of

Meaux Meaux () is a commune on the river Marne in the Seine-et-Marne department in the Île-de-France region in the metropolitan area of Paris, France. It is east-northeast of the centre of Paris. Meaux is, with Provins, Torcy and Fontainebleau, ...

. Arriving in 2005 in Pyrénées-Orientales, she was elected general councilor from the canton of Perpignan-8 in 2008. She chaired the commission for sustainable development and access for people with disabilities at the General Council. She was elected regional councilor in 2010 and became vice-president of the

Languedoc-Roussillon Languedoc-Roussillon (; oc, Lengadòc-Rosselhon ; ca, Llenguadoc-Rosselló) is a former administrative region of France. On 1 January 2016, it joined with the region of Midi-Pyrénées to become Occitania. It comprised five departments, and ...

region. In November 2010, she was elected president of the general council of Pyrénées-Orientales, following the resignation of Christian Bourquin, and was elected president of the Languedoc-Roussillon region after the death of Georges Frêche. Substitute for Christian Bourquin during the 2011 senatorial elections, she succeeded him in the Senate after his death on August 26, 2014, and chose the group of the Social and European Democratic Rally (RDSE). During the discussion on the bill on the delimitation of the regions, she defended the separation of the

and

Midi-Pyrénées Midi-Pyrénées (; oc, Miègjorn-Pirenèus or ; es, Mediodía-Pirineos) is a former administrative region of France. Since 1 January 2016, it has been part of the new region of Occitania. It was the largest region of Metropolitan France by are ...

regions in the Senate. In March 2015, she was elected departmental councilor from the

canton of Perpignan-6 The Canton of Perpignan-6 is a French canton of Pyrénées-Orientales department, in Occitanie. Composition At the French canton reorganisation which came into effect in March 2015, the canton was expanded from 1 to 2 communes: * Perpignan (west ...

in tandem with Jean Roque. On April 2, she was elected to the presidency of the department. She spoke out against plain cigarette packs during debates in the Senate on the health system modernization law on September 16, 2015, against the advice of the government. She ran in the 2017 senatorial elections, unsuccessfully. The candidate of

Les Républicains The Republicans (french: Les Républicains, ; LR) is a liberal-conservative political party in France, largely inspired by the Gaullist tradition. It holds pro-European views. The party was formed on 30 May 2015 from the renaming and refoundation ...

François Calvet was elected senator for the department of Pyrénées-Orientales in the first round, and a second LR candidate, Jean Sol, won in the second round. Hermeline Malherbe was elevated to the rank of Knight of the

National Order 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 B ...

during the 2020 New Year's promotion. In January 2022, she confirmed the '''Oui au Pays Catalan organisation, who launched a petition for a name change in 2017, a referendum by the end of the year to choose the new name of the department of Pyrénées-Orientales.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Malherbe-Laurent, Hermeline Living people 1969 births Politicians from Hauts-de-France People from Pas-de-Calais Presidents of French departments People from Languedoc-Roussillon 21st-century French women politicians Senators of Pyrénées-Orientales Socialist Party (France) politicians Women members of the Senate (France)