Ian Boucard (born 5 May 1988) is a French politician who served as
deputy
Deputy or depute may refer to:
* Steward (office)
* Khalifa, an Arabic title that can signify "deputy"
* Deputy (legislator), a legislator in many countries and regions, including:
** A member of a Chamber of Deputies, for example in Italy, Spai ...
for
Territoire de Belfort's 1st constituency
Territoire de Belfort's 1st constituency is one of two French legislative constituencies in the department of Territoire de Belfort. It is currently represented by Ian Boucard
Ian Boucard (born 5 May 1988) is a French politician who served ...
from June to December 2017, with the invalidation of his election triggering a
by-election
A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, a bye-election in Ireland, a bypoll in India, or a Zimni election (Urdu: ضمنی انتخاب, supplementary election) in Pakistan, is an election used to f ...
in early 2018 in which he was re-elected. He is a member of The Republicans.
Early life and professional career
Ian Boucard was born on 5 May 1988 in
Belfort
Belfort (; archaic german: Beffert/Beffort) is a city in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region in Northeastern France, situated between Lyon and Strasbourg, approximately from the France–Switzerland border. It is the prefecture of the Terri ...
,
Territoire de Belfort
The Territoire de Belfort () is a department in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region, eastern France. It had a population of 141,318 in 2019. to a 19-year-old mother who temporarily suspended her studies in order to raise him. Initially raised in the Résidences district in his first few years, he grew up in the Dardel district, and was educated in public schools in Belfort, at the École élémentaire publique Les Barrès, Collège Léonard de Vinci, and Lycée Condorcet, taking
preparatory classes
Preparatory school or prep school may refer to: Schools
* Preparatory school (United Kingdom), an independent school preparing children aged 8–13 for entry into fee-charging independent schools, usually public schools
*College-preparatory school ...
for business school at the Lycée Courbet. He started coaching youth teams at
ASM Belfort
Association Sportive Municipale Belfortaine Football Club is a French association football team from Belfort, Franche-Comté, currently playing in the Championnat National 2, the fourth tier in the French football league system.
History
The cl ...
at the age of 15, and has continued to supervise teams across all youth age groups since then, including during his studies and professional career, which allowed him to secure an internship at
L'Oréal
L'Oréal S.A. () is a French personal care company headquartered in Clichy, Hauts-de-Seine with a registered office in Paris. It is the world's largest cosmetics company and has developed activities in the field concentrating on hair color, ...
. He studied at the ESC Dijon Bourgogne for two years, and subsequently entered the supermarket sector, employed by
Unilever
Unilever plc is a British multinational consumer goods company with headquarters in London, England. Unilever products include food, condiments, bottled water, baby food, soft drink, ice cream, instant coffee, cleaning agents, energy dri ...
and Super U. He was the official announcer for ASM Belfort at its home stadium Stade Roger-Serzian during
Championnat National 2
The Championnat National 2, commonly known as National 2 and formerly known as Championnat de France Amateur (CFA), is a football league competition. The league serves as the fourth tier of the French football league system behind Ligue 1, Ligu ...
matches from 2012 to 2017.
Political career
Boucard first became involved in politics in 2007, after being invited by a friend part 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 List of political parties in France, political party in France that was one of the two major party, major contemporary political pa ...
(UMP) to a meeting with
Damien Meslot
Damien Meslot (born 11 November 1964 in Belfort) is a French politician and a member of The Republicans. He represented Territoire de Belfort's 1st constituency in the National Assembly from 2002 to 2017. He has served as mayor of Belfort
...
. Two months later, he accepted an invitation by the same friend to join Meslot's list in the 2008 municipal elections in
Belfort
Belfort (; archaic german: Beffert/Beffort) is a city in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region in Northeastern France, situated between Lyon and Strasbourg, approximately from the France–Switzerland border. It is the prefecture of the Terri ...
under the label of the Democratic Movement (MoDem), at position 37 of 45 on the UMP list, which was defeated in the second round a three-way election against the Citizen and Republican Movement (MRC) list led by Étienne Butzbach which won with 48.27% of the vote, compared to 38.06% for the UMP list led by Meslot and 13.67% for 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 candi ...
list supported by the MoDem led by Christophe Grudler, who refused to merge his list with Meslot's after the first round.
He became a member of the UMP in 2009, at the age of 20, and was employed by Meslot as a parliamentary assistant starting in 2013. In the 2014 municipal elections, Boucard once again joined the UMP list led by Meslot and was nominated for spot 7 of 45. Meslot won by a large margin in the second round after Christophe Grudler withdrew following the first round, securing 47.38% of the vote against 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 t ...
(PS) list led by Etienne Butzbach with 31.96% of the vote, the National Front (FN) list led by Marc Archambault with 10.43% of the vote, and the MRC list led by Bastien Faudot with 10.21% of the vote. It was the first time in 37 years that the city was won by the right, having been governed by the left since 1977. As municipal councillor, he was charged with the children, youth and associative life portfolio, and as vice president of the
agglomeration community
An agglomeration community (french: communauté d'agglomération) is a government structure in France, created by the Chevènement Law of 1999. It is one of four forms of intercommunality, less integrated than a métropole or a communauté u ...
of Grand Belfort, received the housing and urban policy portfolio. He was also an administrator at the office of public housing and public works company of Territoire de Belfort.
He was selected as a UMP alternate in the 2015 departmental elections within the canton of Belfort 3, but MoDem candidates Julie de Breza and Christophe Grudler defeated the UMP ticket of Florence Besancenot and Damien Meslot in the second round, receiving 53.50% of the vote against their opponents with 46.50% of the vote. In April 2016, Boucard was designated departmental secretary of The Republicans (LR) in Territoire de Belfort.
On 6 November 2016, Meslot confirmed that he would not seek a fourth mandate in 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 rep ...
, and Boucard was subsequently confirmed as the LR candidate in
Territoire de Belfort's 1st constituency
Territoire de Belfort's 1st constituency is one of two French legislative constituencies in the department of Territoire de Belfort. It is currently represented by Ian Boucard
Ian Boucard (born 5 May 1988) is a French politician who served ...
in the 2017 legislative elections a week later. He was officially invested as a candidate by the party on 14 January 2017. Although Meslot chose not to run for re-election and instead remain mayor of Belfort, he was still chosen as Boucard's alternate. In the first round on 11 June, Boucard came in second with 23.70% of the vote, with Christophe Grudler, candidate of the MoDem supported by La République En Marche! coming in first with 31.83% of valid votes. Boucard and Grudler advanced to the second round and the other candidates were eliminated; Jean-Raphaël Sandri of the National Front received 17.50% of votes, Anaïs Beltran of
La France Insoumise
La France Insoumise (FI or LFI; ; "France Unbowed") is a left-wing populist political party in France, launched in 2016 by Jean-Luc Mélenchon, then a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) and former co-president of the Left Party (PG). It aims ...
secured 12.17%, and Bastien Faudot of the PS and MRC garnered 9.10%. Boucard was elected in the second round on 18 June with 50.75% of the vote, narrowly beating Grudler by 279 votes. He officially took his seat on 21 June with the inauguration of the 15th legislature, joining the LR group and serving on the National Defence and Armed Forces Committee.
On the evening of the second round, Christophe Grudler, defeated by 279 votes, announced that he would file an appeal to the
Constitutional Council Constitutional Council might refer to:
* Constitutional Council (Chad)
* Constitutional Council (France)
* Constitutional Council (Ivory Coast)
* Constitutional Council (Sri Lanka)
* Constitutional Council (Cambodia)
* Constitutional Council (Kaz ...
challenging the election, accusing Boucard of electoral manipulation by distributing unsigned electoral leaflets purportedly from La France Insoumise and the National Front. The appeal succeeded, and the election of Boucard was invalidated on 8 December, triggering a
by-election
A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, a bye-election in Ireland, a bypoll in India, or a Zimni election (Urdu: ضمنی انتخاب, supplementary election) in Pakistan, is an election used to f ...
, scheduled for 28 January and 4 February 2018. At a public meeting on 18 January 2018, Boucard announced that he decided to sue Christophe Grudler, who called him a "cheater" and "fraudster" for his tactics in the June 2017 legislative elections, for defamation. At the hearing on 25 January, Boucard's lawyer contended that leaflets distributed by Grudler's campaign, accusing Boucard of "outright electoral fraud" and a "robbery", were "defamatory and injurious". Boucard and Meslot seek €500 in damages in the case, which was dismissed on 8 February, after the by-election. Boucard and Meslot were ordered to pay Grudler €1,000 and cover legal costs associated with the case. In the first round of the by-election, Boucard secured 39.02% of the vote against 26.67% for Grudler, and was re-elected in the second round with 58.93% of the vote, and returned to the National Assembly on 5 February.