Olivier Bianchi (born June 10, 1970, in Paris) is a French politician. 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 ...

, he has been mayor of

Clermont-Ferrand Clermont-Ferrand (, ; ; oc, label=Auvergnat (dialect), Auvergnat, Clarmont-Ferrand or Clharmou ; la, Augustonemetum) is a city and Communes of France, commune of France, in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes regions of France, region, with a population ...

since April 4, 2014 and president of

Clermont Auvergne Métropole Clermont Auvergne Métropole is the ''métropole'', an intercommunal structure, centred on the city of Clermont-Ferrand. It is located in the Puy-de-Dôme department, in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region, central France. It was created in January 2 ...

since April 22, 2014.

Biography

Childhood and education

Bianchi was born on June 10, 1970, in the

11th arrondissement of Paris The 11th arrondissement of Paris (''XIe arrondissement'') is one of the 20 arrondissements of the capital city of France. In spoken French, this arrondissement is referred to as ''onzième''. The arrondissement, called Popincourt, is situated on ...

to a father who was an

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 ...

agent and a mother who was a childcare worker. He moved around frequently because of his father's profession and lived in different cities ( Mende,

Marvejols Marvejols (; oc, Maruèjols), is a commune in the Lozère department in southern France. Its inhabitants are known as ''Marvejolais''. Geography The commune is located in the Massif central. The Colagne flows southward through the middle of t ...

Sens Sens () is a Communes of France, commune in the Yonne Departments of France, department in Bourgogne-Franche-Comté in north-central France, 120 km from Paris. Sens is a Subprefectures in France, sub-prefecture and the second city of the d ...

Langeac Langeac (; oc, Lanjac) is a commune in the Haute-Loire department in south-central France. It is located about 30 km west of Le Puy-en-Velay, and about 100 km southwest of Lyon. Population See also * Communes of the Haute-Loire d ...

, Le Puy,

Aurillac Aurillac (; oc, Orlhac ) is the prefecture of the Cantal department, in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of France. The inhabitants of the commune are known as ''Aurillacois'' or ''Aurillacoises''. Geography Aurillac is at above sea leve ...

...) before settling in Clermont-Ferrand in 1988 for his law studies. He obtained a master's degree in

public law Public law is the part of law that governs relations between legal persons and a government, between different institutions within a state, between different branches of governments, as well as relationships between persons that are of direct ...

and a degree in

political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and power, and the analysis of political activities, political thought, political behavior, and associated constitutions and la ...

. He taught as a lecturer at the

University of Auvergne The University of Auvergne (Université d'Auvergne), also known as “Universite d'Auvergne Clermont-Ferrand I” or Clermont-Ferrand I, was a French public university, based in Clermont-Ferrand, in the region of Auvergne. It was under the Academ ...

for ten years.

Political career

In 1989 he was president of the Auvergne Club Forum (a club gathering young people close to

Michel Rocard Michel Rocard (; 23 August 1930 – 2 July 2016) was a French politician and a member of the Socialist Party (PS). He served as Prime Minister under François Mitterrand from 1988 to 1991 during which he created the ''Revenu minimum d'ins ...

, Prime Minister at the time). He participated in the demonstrations against the Contract of Professional Integration; he was then the president of the General Assembly of the students of Clermont-UNEF-ID between 1993 and 1994 in Clermont-Ferrand. Between 1995 and 2001, he was a city councilor in Clermont-Ferrand. In 2008, he was elected vice-president of Clermont Communauté and took part in the cultural development of the Clermont agglomeration. He was president of the Culture Commission of the AdCF (Assembly of French Communities) which he represented at the Council of Local Authorities for Cultural Development (CCTDC) with the Minister of Culture. In March 2008, he was 23rd on the list of

Serge Godard Serge Godard (born 25 March 1936) is a French politician. He represented the French department of Puy-de-Dôme in the French Senate from September 1998 to September 2001 and again from March 2010 to September 2011. Born in Gerzat, Puy-de-Dôme ...

, Socialist Party candidate for the mayor of Clermont-Ferrand. After the victory of the latter, he became

deputy mayor The deputy mayor (also known as vice mayor, assistant mayor, or mayor ''pro tem'') is an elective or appointive office of the second-ranking official that is present in many, but not all, local governments. Duties and functions Many elected dep ...

in charge of cultural policy. To prepare the 2014 municipal election, a primary is organized within the Socialist Party, won by Bianchi. In March 2014, he led the left-wing list in the municipal election; it obtained 31% of the votes cast in the first round, which forced him to merge with the Left Front list (11.5%) to win the second round. The merged list won the election with 47.82%, in a three-way tie against the UMP and FN lists. Bianchi was elected mayor on April 4, succeeding Serge Godard. He was elected president of Clermont Communauté, the urban community of Clermont-Ferrand, on April 22, 2014. He has also been treasurer of the National Federation of Urban Planning Agencies (FNAU) since 2014. He is co-president of the Culture Commission of the Association of Mayors of Large Cities of France (AMGVF) from 2014 to 2015 and since 2015 of the Culture Commission of France. In this capacity, he sits on the Council of Local Authorities for Cultural Development (CCTDC), a body for dialogue and consultation between the Ministry of Culture and Communication and local authorities. In 2015, he launched the États généraux de la culture (General States of Culture) to reframe the cultural development plan with the aim of enabling Clermont-Ferrand to become the European Capital of Culture in 2028. On December 17, 2015, he announced an increase in the municipal share in local and property taxes of 9% for 2016, promising not to increase taxes for the rest of his term. On November 26, 2019, Bianchi officially launched the campaign of the list of union of the left that he leads for the municipal elections of March 15 and June 28, 2020. He brought together many parties and movements of the left including the Socialist Party, Europe Ecologie Les Verts, Génération.s, and the Communist Party. On June 28, 2020, following the second round of municipal elections, Olivier Bianchi was re-elected with 48.41% of the vote against Jean-Pierre Brenas (LR, 36.50%) and Marianne Maximi (FI, 15.08%).

Timeline

* 1993-1994: President of the General Assembly of Clermont-Ferrand students AGEC-UNEF-ID * 1995 : Councillor in charge of youth at the Clermont-Ferrand City Hall * 2001 - 2014 : Deputy in charge of the cultural policy at the city hall of Clermont-Ferrand * 2008 : Vice-president of Clermont Communauté and President of the Culture Commission of the Assemblée des Communautés de France * 2010 : President of the Board of Directors of the École supérieure d'art de Clermont-Ferrand * 2014: Mayor of Clermont-Ferrand and President of Clermont Communauté * 2015 : President of the supervisory board at the CHU of Clermont-Ferrand. * 2020 : Re-election as Mayor of Clermont and President of Clermont Métropole

Bibliography

* Olivier Bianchi, « Mythes, légendes et représentations du syndicalisme étudiant : l'AGEC-UNEF entre mémoire et histoire », dans la revue ''Siècles'', Cahiers du Centre d'Histoire Espaces et cultures - Université Blaise-Pascal 1998,

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bianchi, Olivier French politicians 1970 births People from Paris Living people Mayors of Clermont-Ferrand