Florian Philippot (born 24 October 1981) is a French politician. He served as Vice President of the National Front from 2012 to 2017 before quitting the party to found The Patriots in September 2017, which has failed to win any representation in subsequent elections.

Family background

Born on 24 October 1981 at

Croix Croix (French for "cross") may refer to: Belgium * Croix-lez-Rouveroy, a village in municipality of Estinnes in the province of Hainaut France * Croix, Nord, in the Nord department * Croix, Territoire de Belfort, in the Territoire de Belfort depa ...

, Nord, he grew up in

Bondues Bondues (; nl, Bonduwe) is a commune in the Nord department in northern France. Since 1997, Bondues has housed a Museum devoted to the Resistance of the Nord-Pas de Calais region. The Fort of Bondues, also known as Fort Lobau, was built near ...

, a residential suburb in the

Urban Community of Lille Métropole Urban means "related to a city". In that sense, the term may refer to: * Urban area, geographical area distinct from rural areas * Urban culture, the culture of towns and cities Urban may also refer to: General * Urban (name), a list of people ...

. His father was the head teacher of a state primary school and his mother a primary-school teacher. His brother, Damien Philippot, a graduate of

Sciences Po , motto_lang = fr , mottoeng = Roots of the Future , type = Public university, Public research university''Grande école'' , established = , founder = Émile Boutmy , a ...

and ESCP Europe (''École supérieure de commerce de Paris''), is currently a manager of political studies in the French polling organization ( IFOP).

Political career

In October 2011, he was appointed strategic director of

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 ...

presidential campaign President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...

. In July 2012, he was appointed vice president in charge of strategy and communication of the FN. In

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...

, he was parliamentary candidate in

Moselle's 6th constituency The 6th constituency of Moselle is one of the nine legislative constituencies in the Moselle ''département'' (Lorraine). A member of La République En Marche!, Christophe Arend represents the constituency during the 15th legislature. Geogra ...

. Despite the presence of a dissident candidate of the FN (4.09% for Eric Vilain) in the first round, he came second with 26.34% and defeated the incumbent UMP MP Pierre Lang (25.02%). Mayor of

Forbach Forbach ( , , ; gsw, Fuerboch) is a commune in the French department of Moselle, northeastern French region of Grand Est. It is located on the German border approximately 15 minutes from the center of Saarbrücken, Germany, with which it const ...

since 2008, Laurent Kalinowski defeated Florian Philippot in the run-off (53.70% against 46.30%). On 9 November 2012, he went to Colombey-les-Deux-Églises to pay homage to

Charles de Gaulle Charles André Joseph Marie de Gaulle (; ; (commonly abbreviated as CDG) 22 November 18909 November 1970) was a French army officer and statesman who led Free France against Nazi Germany in World War II and chaired the Provisional Government ...

, putting flowers on his grave "in a private capacity" and stating his Gaullist convictions. This act irritated some members of the FN, due to

Jean-Marie Le Pen Jean Louis Marie Le Pen (, born 20 June 1928) is a French far-right politician who served as President of the National Front from 1972 to 2011. He also served as Honorary President of the National Front from 2011 to 2015. Le Pen graduated fro ...

's animosity toward the former president. His convictions and ideas were described as incompatible with de Gaulle's legacy by the UMP party, although some commentators do not consider the UMP a Gaullist party any more. After refusing to quit the think tank The Patriots (''Les Patriotes'') he founded in the wake of the FN's performance in the 2017 presidential and legislative elections, and differences in his stance over the euro with others in the party, he announced his departure from the FN on 21 September 2017. In the

2019 European Parliament election in France The 2019 European Parliament election in France were held on 26 May 2019 (and on 25 May in parts of overseas France and for some nationals abroad), electing members of the 9th French delegation to the European Parliament as part of the elections h ...

, his party obtains 0,6% of the votes and Philippot loses his place in the European Parliament. He attempted to run for 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 ...

, but failed after getting only 1 sponsorship out of the 500 valid sponsorships necessary to be on the ballot.

Personal life

In December 2014, the French celebrity magazine '' Closer'' indicated that Philippot was gay, providing photographs of him and his boyfriend in

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

. Philippot called the article an invasion of his privacy and said he would file a complaint against ''Closer''. He further said the FN was neither "gay friendly" nor the opposite and that it was not difficult to be gay in the party.Marc de Boni (15 December 2014
Florian Philippot : «Il n'y a pas de lobby gay au Front national»
''Le Figaro''.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Philippot, Florian 1981 births Living people People from Croix, Nord National Rally (France) MEPs MEPs for East France 2014–2019 French people of Polish descent Lycée Louis-le-Grand alumni HEC Paris alumni École nationale d'administration alumni LGBT MEPs for France Regional councillors of Grand Est National Rally (France) politicians LGBT conservatism