Nathalie Appéré (born 8 July 1975) is a French politician who has served as the president of
Rennes Métropole
Rennes Métropole is the ''métropole'', an Communes of France#Intercommunality, intercommunal structure, centred on the Communes of France, city of Rennes. It is located in the Ille-et-Vilaine departments of France, department, in the Brittany (a ...
since 2020 and the mayor of
Rennes
Rennes (; br, Roazhon ; Gallo: ''Resnn''; ) is a city in the east of Brittany in northwestern France at the confluence of the Ille and the Vilaine. Rennes is the prefecture of the region of Brittany, as well as the Ille-et-Vilaine department ...
since 2014. She is a member of the
Socialist Party
Socialist Party is the name of many different political parties around the world. All of these parties claim to uphold some form of socialism, though they may have very different interpretations of what "socialism" means. Statistically, most of th ...
(PS).
Appéré was born in
Morbihan
Morbihan ( , ; br, Mor-Bihan ) is a department in the administrative region of Brittany, situated in the northwest of France. It is named after the Morbihan (''small sea'' in Breton), the enclosed sea that is the principal feature of the coastli ...
and moved to Rennes in 1993 to study at
Sciences Po Rennes. She graduated three years later and entered the public service. In 1995, Appéré joined the
Young Socialist Movement
The Movement of the Young Socialists (french: Mouvement des Jeunes Socialistes, MJS) or simply ''Jeunes Socialistes'' is the youth organisation of the Socialist Party of France.
MJS was founded in 1993 as a formally independent youth organisation. ...
(MJS) in 1995 and then the Socialist Party. She was named by
Edmond Hervé
Edmond Hervé (born 3 December 1942) is a French politician, a member of the Socialist Party and French senator from 2008 to 2014. He was the mayor of Rennes from 1977 to 2008, succeeding Henri Fréville.
Biography
Born in La Bouillie, Côte ...
to his electoral list in the
2001 French municipal elections
Municipal elections were held in France on 11 and 18 March 2001. These elections were marked by a setback for the left and a victory for the right one year before the 2002 presidential election. However, the capital, Paris and the second larges ...
, after which she was appointed his deputy for community living. Appéré then managed
Daniel Delaveau
Daniel Delaveau (born 22 December 1952 in Châlette-sur-Loing, Loiret) is a French politician and former Mayor of Rennes. He is a member of the Socialist Party.
He was born in a working-class family, and was active in Catholic youth organization ...
's successful mayoral campaign in 2008, with Delaveau subsequently appointing her deputy mayor, in charge of Solidarity, as well as vice-president of Rennes Métropole, in charge of Social Cohesion.
Appéré was elected to the
National Assembly
In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the repre ...
in the
2012 French legislative elections, representing
Ille-et-Vilaine's 2nd constituency. She then became the first female mayor of Rennes in 2014 and was re-elected in 2020, when she also won the presidency of Rennes Métropole.
Early life and education
Nathalie Appéré was born on 8 July 1975 in
Ploemeur
Ploemeur (; br, Plañvour), sometimes written instead as Plœmeur, is a commune in the Morbihan department in the region of Brittany in north-western France. It is a western suburb of Lorient.
Population
The inhabitants are called the ''Ploemeur ...
,
Morbihan
Morbihan ( , ; br, Mor-Bihan ) is a department in the administrative region of Brittany, situated in the northwest of France. It is named after the Morbihan (''small sea'' in Breton), the enclosed sea that is the principal feature of the coastli ...
.
Appéré moved to
Rennes
Rennes (; br, Roazhon ; Gallo: ''Resnn''; ) is a city in the east of Brittany in northwestern France at the confluence of the Ille and the Vilaine. Rennes is the prefecture of the region of Brittany, as well as the Ille-et-Vilaine department ...
in 1993 after obtaining her ''
baccalauréat
The ''baccalauréat'' (; ), often known in France colloquially as the ''bac'', is a French national academic qualification that students can obtain at the completion of their secondary education (at the end of the ''lycée'') by meeting certain ...
''. She enrolled in
Sciences Po Rennes and graduated in 1996, writing a senior thesis titled "Study for a Diagnostic and the Definition of a Research Strategy in the Rennes Agglomeration: Final Report Relating to the Study Contract with the City of Rennes–University of Rennes 1" with Jacques Hardy as her advisor.
Appéré then became a lecturer in public law.
Appéré's professional career centred around city politics and urban social development.
She first entered the public service as a research analyst for the Regional Institute of Social Work in Rennes from 1996 to 1998, after which she took up the post of director of public infrastructure for
Saint-Jacques-de-la-Lande
Saint-Jacques-de-la-Lande (; ; Gallo: ''Saent-Jaq'') is a commune of Rennes Métropole in the Ille-et-Vilaine department of Brittany in northwestern France.
Population
People from Saint-Jacques-de-la-Lande are called ''jacquolandins'' in French ...
from 2000 to 2008.
Political career
After arriving in Rennes, Appéré joined the
Young Socialist Movement
The Movement of the Young Socialists (french: Mouvement des Jeunes Socialistes, MJS) or simply ''Jeunes Socialistes'' is the youth organisation of the Socialist Party of France.
MJS was founded in 1993 as a formally independent youth organisation. ...
at the age of 20 during the
1995 French presidential election
Presidential elections in France, Presidential elections were held in France on 23 April, with a second round on 7 May.
Background
The French Socialist Party, Socialist incumbent president François Mitterrand, who had been in office since 19 ...
.
She became a member of the
Socialist Party
Socialist Party is the name of many different political parties around the world. All of these parties claim to uphold some form of socialism, though they may have very different interpretations of what "socialism" means. Statistically, most of th ...
(PS) and took up several departmental posts within the party, notably that of spokesperson for the Socialist federation of
Ille-et-Vilaine
Ille-et-Vilaine (; br, Il-ha-Gwilen) is a department of France, located in the region of Brittany in the northwest of the country. It is named after the two rivers of the Ille and the Vilaine. It had a population of 1,079,498 in 2019. .
Appéré joined
Edmond Hervé
Edmond Hervé (born 3 December 1942) is a French politician, a member of the Socialist Party and French senator from 2008 to 2014. He was the mayor of Rennes from 1977 to 2008, succeeding Henri Fréville.
Biography
Born in La Bouillie, Côte ...
's electoral list for Rennes in the
2001 municipal elections, after which she was appointed deputy mayor for community living.
It was in this position that she led major city projects such as the reform of the Rennes Social and Cultural Office.
Rise to prominence
Appéré was the director of
Daniel Delaveau
Daniel Delaveau (born 22 December 1952 in Châlette-sur-Loing, Loiret) is a French politician and former Mayor of Rennes. He is a member of the Socialist Party.
He was born in a working-class family, and was active in Catholic youth organization ...
's successful campaign for mayor of Rennes in the
2008 municipal elections, after which she was appointed first deputy mayor, in charge of Solidarity, and vice-president of
Rennes Métropole
Rennes Métropole is the ''métropole'', an Communes of France#Intercommunality, intercommunal structure, centred on the Communes of France, city of Rennes. It is located in the Ille-et-Vilaine departments of France, department, in the Brittany (a ...
, in charge of Social Cohesion.
Among her initiatives were the implementation of the "Sortir" tourism card, providing discounts for visitors to cultural and entertainment attractions in Rennes, as well as the rehabilitation of the city's heritage district.
Appéré also served as the president of the supervisory board of Guillaume-Régnier hospital from 2010 to 2012. In early 2012, she supported a strike at the hospital protesting the facility's insufficient patient capacity.
At the national level, Appéré was named vice-president of the National Council of Cities in 2010. The body is presided over by the Prime Minister of France and discusses issues surrounding municipal politics, neighbourhood public policy and territorial difficulties.
Appéré endorsed
François Hollande
François Gérard Georges Nicolas Hollande (; born 12 August 1954) is a French politician who served as President of France from 2012 to 2017. He previously was First Secretary of the Socialist Party (PS) from 1997 to 2008, Mayor of Tulle from ...
in the PS'
2011 open presidential primary.
Member of the National Assembly
During the
2002 French legislative elections
The French legislative elections took place on 9 and 16 June 2002 to elect the 12th National Assembly of the Fifth Republic, in a context of political crisis.
The Socialist Prime Minister Lionel Jospin announced his political retirement after ...
, Appéré was elected as the designated substitute of
Philippe Tourtelier, Socialist deputy for
Ille-et-Vilaine's 2nd constituency. After Tourtelier announced that he would not run for a third term in the
2012 legislative elections, Appéré was nominated by the PS in his riding. Speaking after receiving the nomination, she promised party activists that she would resign her executive offices in Rennes but also signalled that she would continue to sit on the city's municipal council. Appéré was elected to the
National Assembly
In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the repre ...
on 17 June 2012, winning 63.45% of the vote in the second round against Bertrand Plouvier of the
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 ...
(UMP).
In December 2012, she declared her candidacy for the Socialist nomination for mayor of Rennes in 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 ...
. Although Appéré had previously stated her opposition to the law on the accumulation of electoral mandates several times, she ultimately announced that she would serve out her full term as deputy if she were to be elected to the mayoralty.
Mayor of Rennes
First term
Appéré was elected mayor of Rennes on 4 April 2014 with 55.83% of the vote in the second round after forming an alliance with the
Europe Ecology – The Greens
Europe Ecology – The Greens (french: Europe Écologie Les Verts , EELV ) is a centre-left to left-wing green political party in France. The party is a member of the European Green Party. The party was formed on 13 November 2010 from the merge ...
–
Left Front electoral list. She thus became the city's first female mayor.
The beginning of Appéré's term was marked by several violent protests against the
Grand Ouest Airport project in January 2016 as well as the
El Khomri law
The loi n° 2016-1088 du 8 août 2016 relative au travail, à la modernisation du dialogue social et à la sécurisation des parcours professionnels is a piece of national legislation in France relating to employment. It is commonly known as the El ...
between March and May of the same year. She responded by demanding a "clear decision from the French state" on the airport. Further riots broke out after the announcement of the El Khomri law, with a 20-year-old student notably losing an eye in the violence on 28 April. This led student protesters to interrupt a session of the Rennes municipal council on 2 May, calling for the mayor to put an end to police brutality.
In 2016, Appéré endorsed
Manuel Valls
Manuel Carlos Valls Galfetti (, , ; born 13 August 1962) is a French-Spanish politician who has served as a Barcelona city councillor from 2019 to 2021. He served as Prime Minister of France from 2014 until 2016 under president François Hol ...
in the
2017 Socialist presidential primary and joined his campaign's organizational staff. Valls was defeated in the primary by
Benoît Hamon
Benoît Hamon (; born 26 June 1967) is a French politician known for his former role within the Socialist Party (PS) and Party of European Socialists (PES) and his political party Génération.s.
Hamon joined the Socialist Party in 1988 and ...
, whom Appéré subsequently endorsed in the
presidential election
A presidential election is the election of any head of state whose official title is President.
Elections by country
Albania
The president of Albania is elected by the Assembly of Albania who are elected by the Albanian public.
Chile
The pre ...
.
In accordance with the law on the accumulation of electoral mandates, Appéré did not seek re-election in the
2017 French legislative elections
Legislative elections in France were held on 11 and 18 June 2017 (with different dates for voters overseas) to elect the 577 members of the 15th National Assembly of the Fifth Republic. They followed the two-round presidential election won by ...
. In 2018, she supported
Olivier Faure
Olivier Faure (French: livie fɔʁ born 18 August 1968) is a French politician who has served as the First Secretary of the Socialist Party since 2018 and Member of the National Assembly for Seine-et-Marne's 11th constituency since 2012. He ...
for first secretary of the PS during its
Aubervilliers Congress
The Aubervilliers Congress (french: congrès d'Aubervilliers) of the Socialist Party (PS) was held on 7 and 8 April 2018 near the Front Populaire station of the Paris Métro in Aubervilliers, Seine-Saint-Denis. The congress determined the politi ...
. Appéré was appointed to the party's national bureau on 15 April of that year.
On 12 February 2019, the
City Mayors Foundation
The City Mayors Foundation, also known as City Mayors, is an international think tank dedicated to urban affairs. It has been active since 2003 and runs the biennial World Mayor award, as well as providing pro bono consultancy services. Unlike Eur ...
awarded Appéré a
World Mayor Commendation, along with Mayor
Ros Jones
Roselyn Christine Jones (born 20 December 1949) is a Labour Party (UK), Labour Party politician in the United Kingdom who is the Mayor of Doncaster, first elected in 2013.
Early life
Her father worked at Askern Main Colliery, seven miles north ...
of
Doncaster
Doncaster (, ) is a city in South Yorkshire, England. Named after the River Don, it is the administrative centre of the larger City of Doncaster. It is the second largest settlement in South Yorkshire after Sheffield. Doncaster is situated in ...
, Mayor
Charlotte Britz of
Saarbrücken
Saarbrücken (; french: link=no, Sarrebruck ; Rhine Franconian: ''Saarbrigge'' ; lb, Saarbrécken ; lat, Saravipons, lit=The Bridge(s) across the Saar river) is the capital and largest city of the state of Saarland, Germany. Saarbrücken is S ...
and Mayor
Beng Climaco
Maria Isabelle Climaco-Salazar (born September 7, 1966), also known as Beng Climaco, is a Filipina politician, and former mayor of Zamboanga City in Mindanao, Philippines. Prior to this she was councilor of the city's 1st district for two terms ...
of
Zamboanga City
Zamboanga City, officially the City of Zamboanga (Chavacano and es, Ciudad de Zamboanga, Tausug language, Tausūg: ''Dāira sin Sambuangan'', fil, Lungsod ng Zamboanga, ceb, Dakbayan sa Zamboanga), is a city in the Zamboanga Peninsula region ...
. The foundation announced that she had received the distinction for her housing policies, establishment of a participatory budget system and overseeing of demographic and economic development.
Appéré's first term also saw the opening of the
LGV Bretagne-Pays de la Loire
The LGV Bretagne-Pays de la Loire (LGV BPL) is a French high-speed rail line running between Connerré, Sarthe near Le Mans and Cesson-Sévigné, Ille-et-Vilaine near Rennes.
Studied as early as 1996, processes towards LGV Brittany-Pays de la ...
high-speed railway in July 2017, the Convent of the Jacobins Convention Centre in January 2018 and the renovated
Rennes station
Rennes station ( French: ''Gare de Rennes'') is situated in the town centre of Rennes, France. It is situated on the Paris–Brest, Rennes–Saint-Malo and the Rennes–Redon railways.
The station at Rennes was opened in 1857, and was situat ...
in July 2019. Other infrastructure projects included two new public parks—the Saint-Martin Meadows and Baud Beaches.
2020 Rennes municipal election campaign
= Pre-election manoeuvres
=
On 26 June 2019, Appéré launched a discussion platform named "200 Days for Rennes" in the lead-up to the
2020 French municipal elections
The 2020 French municipal elections were held from 15 March to 28 June to renew the municipal councils of the approximately 35,000 French communes.
The first round took place on 15 March and the second round was postponed to 28 June due to the CO ...
.
The platform had a website with the address "avecnathalieappere.fr" ("With Nathalie Appéré").
In an interview with ''
Ouest-France
''Ouest-France'' ( ; French for "West-France") is a daily French newspaper known for its emphasis on both local and national news. The paper is produced in 47 different editions covering events in different French départments within the régio ...
'' on 13 September, she confirmed that she would be a candidate in the upcoming municipal elections but would begin her campaign later than her competitors, citing her ongoing consideration of whether to run for the presidency of
Rennes Métropole
Rennes Métropole is the ''métropole'', an Communes of France#Intercommunality, intercommunal structure, centred on the Communes of France, city of Rennes. It is located in the Ille-et-Vilaine departments of France, department, in the Brittany (a ...
following the expected retirement of Socialist incumbent Emmanuel Couet. She received the endorsement of deputy
François André, an independent affiliated with the
La République En Marche group, four days later.
Nevertheless,
La République En Marche
Renaissance (RE), previously known as La République En Marche ! (frequently abbreviated LREM, LaREM or REM; translated as "The Republic on the Move" or "Republic Forward"), or sometimes called simply En Marche ! () as its original name, is a l ...
itself announced that it would be running its own electoral list in the elections.
= Campaign and policy platform
=
Appéré announced her candidacy for the mayoralty of Rennes and the presidency of Rennes Métropole on 10 December 2019, during an 800-person event at Rennes' Le Liberté performance hall concluding the 200 Days for Rennes campaign. The latter ended after collecting the views of 1 000 Rennais, according to its organizers. Appéré was joined by representatives from the
French Communist Party
The French Communist Party (french: Parti communiste français, ''PCF'' ; ) is a political party in France which advocates the principles of communism. The PCF is a member of the Party of the European Left, and its MEPs sit in the European Unit ...
, the
Radical Party of the Left
The Radical Party of the Left (french: Parti radical de gauche, PRG) is a social-liberal political party in France. A party in the Radical tradition, since 1972 the PRG was a close ally of the major party of the centre-left in France, the Socia ...
,
Génération.s and
Place Publique
Place Publique is a centre-left political party in France, founded in 2018 by Raphaël Glucksmann, Claire Nouvian, Jo Spiegel, and Thomas Porcher.
In January 2019, the movement claimed 25,000 members.
History Creation
The party was officia ...
who declared their parties' support for her campaign. The event also saw her announce the first planks of her platform, such as the creation of five rapid transit bus lines, which she called "trambuses," the laying out of 100 kilometres of safe bicycle lanes, the adoption of free public transit for riders under 12 years old, the planting of 30 000 trees in six years, the uncovering of the
Vilaine
The Vilaine (; br, Gwilen) is a river in Brittany, in the west of France. The river's source is in the Mayenne ''département'' (53), and it flows out into the Atlantic Ocean at Pénestin in the Morbihan ''département'' (56). It is 218 km ...
river in front of the Palace of Commerce as well as the establishment of a nighttime municipal police department and a police brigade combating anti-social behaviour.
The following month, Appéré had the City of Rennes acquire the Jacques Cartier Prison with plans of converting it into a cultural attraction.
She also announced the construction of an aquatic centre that would replace a public pool in the neighbourhood of Villejean.
Appéré released her full platform on 7 February 2020, which included commitments to create citizens' panels for urban redevelopment projects and the redefinition of certain municipal policies, build a "Neighbourhood of Creation" for "cultural and creative industries" next to the city's
SNCF
The Société nationale des chemins de fer français (; abbreviated as SNCF ; French for "National society of French railroads") is France's national state-owned railway company. Founded in 1938, it operates the country's national rail traffi ...
station and never increase local taxes. On 21 February, she confirmed her candidacy for president of Rennes Métropole and joined 25 other electoral list leaders and 12 incumbent mayors in unveiling a metropolitan platform.
On 5 March, Appéré held a rally in advance of the first round of the elections that attracted 800 people. The following day, she received the public endorsement of former mayor Edmond Hervé, under whom she had served as deputy mayor from 2001 to 2008.
= Re-election victory
=
The first round of the election on 15 March 2020 was marked by the rapidly worsening
COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...
.
Appéré's list won 32.77% of the vote, putting it in first place ahead of the lists of Matthieu Theurier and
Europe Ecology – The Greens
Europe Ecology – The Greens (french: Europe Écologie Les Verts , EELV ) is a centre-left to left-wing green political party in France. The party is a member of the European Green Party. The party was formed on 13 November 2010 from the merge ...
(EELV), Carole Gandon and
La République En Marche
Renaissance (RE), previously known as La République En Marche ! (frequently abbreviated LREM, LaREM or REM; translated as "The Republic on the Move" or "Republic Forward"), or sometimes called simply En Marche ! () as its original name, is a l ...
(LREM) and Charles Compagnon and the
Miscellaneous right
Miscellaneous right (', ''DVD'') in France refers to right-wing candidates who are not members of any large party. This can include members of small right-wing parties, dissidents expelled from their party for running against their party's candida ...
(DVG).
Due to the
COVID-19 lockdown in France, the second round was postponed to 28 June. It was during this delay that Appéré announced on 30 May that she had successfully concluded an electoral pact with the EELV to unite their lists in the second round against those of Gandon and Compagnon.
Appéré's list won the second round with 65.35% of the vote, though voter turnout fell to a historic low of 68.33% of the electorate.
Consequently, her result was ten percentage points higher than in 2014 but consisted of almost 9 000 fewer votes. She also finished far ahead of Gandon and Compagnon's lists, which recorded 17.49% and 17.15% of the vote respectively.
Responding to the results, Appéré praised the "clear, definite and massive choice of Rennais" and welcomed the "large victory with pride and emotion," while also promising to "work to reinforce local democracy" to remedy low voter turnout. She additionally described Rennes as "the vanguard of a social and environmentalist left."
Second term
During the first session of the new municipal council on 3 July, Appéré was re-elected mayor with 51 votes against 10 blank votes and one invalid vote for Hervé cast by an opposition councillor.
Speaking after assuming office, Appéré spoke of the great "emotion
he was feelingat this moment" and paid homage to her predecessors.
She then appointed 21 deputy mayors, including 12 candidates from her municipal election list and nine from Theurier's EELV list. Several of the latter received important portfolios like Education, Culture and Finance. Also among the nominees was the son of Edmond Hervé, Marc Hervé, whom Appéré promoted from seventh deputy mayor, in charge of Finance, to first deputy mayor, in charge of Urban Planning.
President of Rennes Métropole
Appéré stood for the presidency of Rennes Métropole during the inaugural session of its communal council on 9 July 2020. She was the sole candidate and was elected with 78 votes out of 111 councillors present. This was followed by the new president's nomination of an executive cabinet consisting of 20 vice-presidents, 12 of which were not from Rennes (one more than in the previous government). A group of 11 mayors then announced that they would form an "independent" group, though without leaving the opposition benches.
On 24 September, Appéré was named secretary-general of France Urbaine, an association of elected officials from urban municipalities across France. She succeeded the former mayor of
Nancy,
André Rossinot
André Rossinot (born 22 May 1939) is a French politician. He is a medical doctor specialist in Otolaryngology. He is a member of the Radical Party.
Between 1978 and 1997, he was a member of the French National Assembly. From 1993 until 1995 ...
, in this position. Six months later, she established the "Idées en Commun" discussion platform (originally proposed by Mayor
Anne Hidalgo
Ana María "Anne" Hidalgo Aleu (, ; born 1959) is a Spanish-French politician who has served as Mayor of Paris since 2014, the first woman to hold the office. She is a member of the Socialist Party.
Hidalgo served as First Deputy Mayor of Paris ...
of
Paris
Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...
), to address housing issues. Appéré then joined Hidalgo on 12 September 2021 for an event launching the Paris mayor's campaign in 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 ...
.
Personal life
Appéré is married and has 2 children. She lives in Rennes and has previously resided in its Maurepas-Patton neighbourhood.
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Appere, Nathalie
1975 births
Living people
People from Ploemeur
Politicians from Brittany
Socialist Party (France) politicians
Mayors of Rennes
Women members of the National Assembly (France)
Women mayors of places in France
Deputies of the 14th National Assembly of the French Fifth Republic
21st-century French women politicians
Members of Parliament for Ille-et-Vilaine