Lydie Polfer (born 22 November 1952, in

Luxembourg City Luxembourg ( lb, Lëtzebuerg; french: Luxembourg; german: Luxemburg), also known as Luxembourg City ( lb, Stad Lëtzebuerg, link=no or ; french: Ville de Luxembourg, link=no; german: Stadt Luxemburg, link=no or ), is the capital city of the Lu ...

) is a

Luxembourg Luxembourg ( ; lb, Lëtzebuerg ; french: link=no, Luxembourg; german: link=no, Luxemburg), officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, ; french: link=no, Grand-Duché de Luxembourg ; german: link=no, Großherzogtum Luxemburg is a small lan ...

ish politician who has served in a number of capacities, including

Deputy Prime Minister A deputy prime minister or vice prime minister is, in some countries, a government minister who can take the position of acting prime minister when the prime minister is temporarily absent. The position is often likened to that of a vice president, ...

Minister for Foreign Affairs A foreign affairs minister or minister of foreign affairs (less commonly minister for foreign affairs) is generally a cabinet minister in charge of a state's foreign policy and relations. The formal title of the top official varies between coun ...

, and

Mayor of Luxembourg City The Mayor of Luxembourg City is the mayor of Luxembourg's capital and largest city, Luxembourg City. The officeholder, like other mayors in Luxembourg, is appointed by the Grand Duke amongst council members. Due to the city's importance within the ...

, as well 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 ...

(MEP) and a member of the

Chamber of Deputies The chamber of deputies is the lower house in many bicameral legislatures and the sole house in some unicameral legislatures. Description Historically, French Chamber of Deputies was the lower house of the French Parliament during the Bourbon R ...

. She is a member of the

Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa *Botswana Democratic Party *Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *Demo ...

(DP).

Early life

Polfer succeeded her father, Camille Polfer, as mayor of Luxembourg City, when he was forced to resign from the position due to poor health after only two years. She was first elected to the Chamber of Deputies in the 1984 election, representing

Centre Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentricity ...

. She was the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs in the government of

Jean-Claude Juncker Jean-Claude Juncker (; born 9 December 1954) is a Luxembourgish politician who served as the 21st Prime Minister of Luxembourg from 1995 to 2013 and 12th President of the European Commission from 2014 to 2019. He also served as Finance Minister ...

from August 1999 until July 2004. In the 2004 legislative election, Polfer was elected, once again, top of the DP list, coming second overall to

Luc Frieden Luc Frieden (born 16 September 1963) is a Luxembourgish politician, lawyer, and business executive. He has held several posts in the cabinet of Luxembourg, including as Minister for Justice (1998–2009), Minister for Defence (2004–2006), and ...

. However, the DP polled poorly overall, losing five seats nationwide, and, with them, their position as the second-largest party and kingmakers. As such, the CSV entered instead into a coalition with the

Luxembourg Socialist Workers' Party The Luxembourg Socialist Workers' Party ( lb, Lëtzebuerger Sozialistesch Aarbechterpartei, french: Parti ouvrier socialiste luxembourgeois, german: Luxemburger Sozialistische Arbeiterpartei), abbreviated to LSAP or POSL, is a social-democratic, pr ...

(LSAP), ejecting Polfer from the government. The

European Parliament election Elections to the European Parliament take place every five years by universal adult suffrage; with more than 400 million people eligible to vote, they are considered the second largest democratic elections in the world after India's. Unti ...

held on the same day also saw the DP lose votes, as well as fall to fourth, behind

the Greens The Greens or Greens may refer to: Current political parties * Australian Greens, also known as ''The Greens'' * Greens of Andorra * Greens of Bosnia and Herzegovina * Greens of Burkina * Greens (Greece) * Greens of Montenegro *Greens of Serbia *G ...

for the first time. Nonetheless, Polfer still came top of the DP list (and third overall), and took her place in 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 ...

, where the DP sit in the Group of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe. She is now once again

, after previously being mayor there from 1982 to 1999. Polfer is a Vice Chair of the ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly.

Footnotes

External links

Chamber of Deputies official website biography
, - , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Polfer, Lydie Ministers for Foreign Affairs of Luxembourg Deputy Prime Ministers of Luxembourg MEPs for Luxembourg 2004–2009 Mayors of Luxembourg City Members of the Chamber of Deputies (Luxembourg) Members of the Chamber of Deputies (Luxembourg) from Centre Councillors in Luxembourg City Democratic Party (Luxembourg) politicians 1952 births Living people People from Luxembourg City Women mayors of places in Luxembourg Democratic Party (Luxembourg) MEPs 21st-century women MEPs for Luxembourg Female foreign ministers MEPs for Luxembourg 1989–1994 Women government ministers of Luxembourg 20th-century Luxembourgian women politicians 20th-century Luxembourgian politicians Luxembourgian women diplomats

Early life

See also

Footnotes

External links