Jérôme Rivière (born 8 July 1964) is a French politician, lawyer and entrepreneur who has served as a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) since 2019. A member of the Union for a Popular Movement (UMP) until 2007, he was a member of the

National Rally The National Rally (french: Rassemblement National, ; RN), until 2018 known as the National Front (french: link=no, Front National, ; FN), is a Far-right politics, far-rightAbridged list of reliable sources that refer to National Rally as fa ...

(RN), previously known as the National Front (FN), from 2017 until 2022, when he announced his support for Éric Zemmour in the 2022 presidential election and was appointed vice chairman of Zemmour's newly-founded Reconquête party.

Biography

Education

Born in Suresnes,

Hauts-de-Seine Hauts-de-Seine (; ) is a Departments of France, département in the Île-de-France Regions of France, region, Northern France. It covers Paris's western inner Banlieue, suburbs. It is bordered by Paris, Seine-Saint-Denis and Val-de-Marne to the e ...

near Paris. Rivière received a master's degree from the ISG business school and an MBA from the European University of America at the University of San Francisco.

Career

He served as the deputy chief of staff for the

Minister of Defense A defence minister or minister of defence is a cabinet official position in charge of a ministry of defense, which regulates the armed forces in sovereign states. The role of a defence minister varies considerably from country to country; in som ...

from 1993 to 1995 and was elected to the Regional Council of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur where he served from 1998 to 2004. Rivière represented the first constituency of

Alpes-Maritimes Alpes-Maritimes (; oc, Aups Maritims; it, Alpi Marittime, "Maritime Alps") is a department of France located in the country's southeast corner, on the Italian border and Mediterranean coast. Part of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region, it ...

in the

French National Assembly The National Assembly (french: link=no, italics=set, Assemblée nationale; ) is the lower house of the bicameral French Parliament under the Fifth Republic, the upper house being the Senate (). The National Assembly's legislators are known a ...

from 2002 to 2007 as a member of the Union for a Popular Movement. He was also a member of the subsidiary groups

The Free Right The Free Right (''La Droite libre'') is a liberal-conservative faction within the Union for a Popular Movement (UMP) founded by and Alexandre del Valle. The Free Right is formed mostly by members of Liberal Democracy, though Kaci was close the so ...

and the National Centre of Independents and Peasants. In 2007, he endorsed Philippe de Villiers, the leader of the Movement for France (MPF) in the

2007 presidential election This electoral calendar 2007 lists the national/federal direct elections held in 2007 in the de jure and de facto sovereign states and their dependent territories. Referendums are included, although they are not elections. By-elections are not i ...

over his party's candidate, the eventual winner,

Nicolas Sarkozy Nicolas Paul Stéphane Sarközy de Nagy-Bocsa (; ; born 28 January 1955) is a French politician who served as President of France from 2007 to 2012. Born in Paris, he is of Hungarian, Greek Jewish, and French origin. Mayor of Neuilly-sur-Se ...

. As a result, he was excluded from the UMP and failed to receive the party's nomination for that year's legislative elections. He was defeated running as a right-wing independent in his constituency against the UMP's official candidate and eventual winner

Éric Ciotti Éric Ciotti (, ; born 28 September 1965) is a French politician who has represented the 1st constituency of Alpes-Maritimes in the National Assembly since 2007 and is the president of The Republicans since 2022. Ciotti previously briefly served ...

. In 2009, the MPF-

Libertas Libertas (Latin for 'liberty' or 'freedom', ) is the Roman goddess and personification of liberty. She became a politicised figure in the Late Republic, featured on coins supporting the populares faction, and later those of the assassins of Jul ...

selected him to lead the list in the Île-de-France constituency ahead of the 2009 European elections. In November 2016, Rivière became the candidate backed by the National Front in the sixth constituency of

Var Var or VAR may refer to: Places * Var (department), a department of France * Var (river), France * Vār, Iran, village in West Azerbaijan Province, Iran * Var, Iran (disambiguation), other places in Iran * Vár, a village in Obreja commune, Ca ...

for the 2017 legislative election, a race which he lost. He is

Marine Le Pen Marion Anne Perrine "Marine" Le Pen (; born 5 August 1968) is a French lawyer and politician who ran for the French presidency in 2012, 2017, and 2022. A member of the National Rally (RN; previously the National Front, FN), she served as its pre ...

's strategic advisor for defense policy and the international spokesperson for the

. In May 2019, he was elected to the European Parliament. Rivière was subsequently elected President of the French delegation to the Identity and Democracy group in the European Parliament. According to news media sources, he would serve as Minister of Defense in a government led by

. In January 2022, he decided to join Éric Zemmour's presidential campaign ahead of the

2022 French presidential election The 2022 French presidential election was held on 10 and 24 April 2022. As no candidate won a majority in the first round, a runoff was held, in which Emmanuel Macron defeated Marine Le Pen and was re-elected as President of France. Macron, f ...

. As a result he relinquished the presidency of the French delegation to the Identity and Democracy Group at the European Parliament and was appointed Vice-Chairman of Reconquête, Zemmour's new political party.

References

External links

Jérôme Rivière's blog
{{DEFAULTSORT:Riviere, Jerome 1964 births Living people ISG Business School alumni Union for a Popular Movement politicians National Rally (France) politicians Deputies of the 12th National Assembly of the French Fifth Republic MEPs for France 2019–2024 National Rally (France) MEPs Politicians from Paris People from Suresnes Politicians from Île-de-France Reconquête politicians