Martine Billard (born in

Boulogne-Billancourt Boulogne-Billancourt (; often colloquially called simply Boulogne, until 1924 Boulogne-sur-Seine, ) is a wealthy and prestigious commune in the Parisian area, located from its centre. It is a subprefecture of the Hauts-de-Seine department and ...

Hauts-de-Seine Hauts-de-Seine (; ) is a département in the Île-de-France region, Northern France. It covers Paris's western inner suburbs. It is bordered by Paris, Seine-Saint-Denis and Val-de-Marne to the east, Val-d'Oise to the north, Yvelines to the w ...

) is a French politician and a deputy to the

National Assembly of France 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 ...

. She is a member of the Parti de Gauche. Martine Billard entered politics in May 1968 with the "comité d'action lycéen". She studied economics at Panthéon-Assas University, and campaigned against

far-right Far-right politics, also referred to as the extreme right or right-wing extremism, are political beliefs and actions further to the right of the left–right political spectrum than the standard political right, particularly in terms of being ...

movements, which were especially active there. In the 1970s, she joined the

feminist Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social equality of the sexes. Feminism incorporates the position that society prioritizes the male poi ...

movement, and was active in the pro-choice movement, and against right-wing dictatorships in Latin America. After graduating in economics, she had several small jobs, and campaigned with

far-left Far-left politics, also known as the radical left or the extreme left, are politics further to the left on the left–right political spectrum than the standard political left. The term does not have a single definition. Some scholars consider ...

movements, against nuclear energy and in favour of Palestine against

Zionism Zionism ( he, צִיּוֹנוּת ''Tsiyyonut'' after '' Zion'') is a nationalist movement that espouses the establishment of, and support for a homeland for the Jewish people centered in the area roughly corresponding to what is known in J ...

in the 1980s. She joined Les Verts ("the Greens"), the French ecologist party, in 1993. Between 1995 and 2001, she held the position of representative of the twentieth

arrondissement An arrondissement (, , ) is any of various administrative divisions of France, Belgium, Haiti, certain other Francophone countries, as well as the Netherlands. Europe France The 101 French departments are divided into 342 ''arrondissements ...

on the City Council of Paris. Between 1996 and 1997, she was spokesperson for Les Verts in Paris. In 1999 and 2000, she was elected to the National Council of ''Les Verts'', and became the national spokesperson of the party, and a member of the executive council of ''Les Verts'' for economic and social matters. In 2001, she was a candidate in the elections for the first ''arrondissement'', and was defeated by a large margin. As a candidate of the ''Gauche unie'' ("United Left"), she was elected on 16 June 2002 for the twelfth term (2002–2007) in the first circonscription of Paris, defeating Jean-François Legaret, mayor of the first ''arrondissement'' (and candidate of the UMP). Her victory came as a surprise, since she was elected in one of the wealthiest constituencies of Paris, usually a stronghold of the Right. As a matter of fact, she was defeated by a large margin in the first and fourth ''arrondissements'', which have a conservative or liberal majority, but compensated with the left-leaning middle classes of the second and third arrondissements (the so-called " bourgeois bohemians"). In April 2005, she condemned, as "twin brothers" within ''Les Verts'', the "small group of hysterics of the Arab cause" and the "Hysterics of the Jewish Defence League". During the

referendum A referendum (plural: referendums or less commonly referenda) is a direct vote by the electorate on a proposal, law, or political issue. This is in contrast to an issue being voted on by a representative. This may result in the adoption o ...

on the

Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe The Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe (TCE; commonly referred to as the European Constitution or as the Constitutional Treaty) was an unratified international treaty intended to create a consolidated constitution for the European ...

, she advocated opposing the Treaty, against the position of her party. Her constituency eventually voted massively in favour of the Treaty. In 2005 and 2006, she worked on the DADVSI law project, trying to influence it toward more friendliness for Internet users. On 8 July 2009, she left the Greens, and in December 2009, she joined the Left Party. Martine Billard dsc07879

Offices held

* 19 June 1995 – 18 March 2001: Member of the City Council of Paris

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Billard, Martine 1952 births Living people People from Boulogne-Billancourt The Greens (France) politicians Left Party (France) politicians La France Insoumise politicians French abortion-rights activists French feminists Women members of the National Assembly (France) Paris 2 Panthéon-Assas University alumni 21st-century French women politicians 20th-century French women politicians Deputies of the 12th National Assembly of the French Fifth Republic Deputies of the 13th National Assembly of the French Fifth Republic French socialist feminists Members of Parliament for Paris