Brigitte Barèges (; born 1 May 1953) is a French politician and lawyer who has been a member of 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 repr ...
since 2024, representing
Tarn-et-Garonne's 1st constituency. She is a member of the
Union of the Right for the Republic (UDR).
From March 2001 to February 2021 and again from December 2021 to August 2024, she worked as the mayor of
Montauban
Montauban (, ; ) is a commune in the southern French department of Tarn-et-Garonne. It is the capital of the department and lies north of Toulouse. Montauban is the most populated town in Tarn-et-Garonne, and the sixth most populated of Oc ...
.
Controversies and legal issues
Barèges sparked a controversy when she voiced brusque opposition to proposals for legalized same-sex marriage: "Why not let people marry animals, too?" Barèges sparked a controversy when she described a black person of her party as "humain stain". Barèges was punished by French courts because she refused to celebrate the wedding of a foreign couple.
On 17 February 2014, the prosecutor announces that it will conduct an investigation for embezzlement of public funds. Despite this challenge on the judicial front, on 30 March 2014, Barèges won the municipal elections in Montauban for a third term. During the summer of 2014, CNCCFP rejects the accounts for the municipal elections. On 21 October 2014, following the rejection of her campaign accounts, Barèges was condemned to one year of ineligibility and non-reimbursement of campaign expenses by the Administrative Court of Toulouse. The court mentioned the use of municipality funds to fund an illegal advertising campaign during the election.
On 9 February 2021, she was condemned to an 18 months prison suspended sentence, a 15 000 € fine and five years of ineligibility with immediate effect. On appeal, in December 14, 2021, she was acquitted of the charges against her . While the public prosecutor's office decided not to appeal her acquittal, Brigitte Barèges was re-elected mayor of Montauban on December 22, 2021, following the resignation of Axel de Labriolle.
References
External links
Official website
1953 births
Living people
Politicians from Toulouse
Rally for the Republic politicians
Union for a Popular Movement politicians
The Social Right
Modern and Humanist France
The Popular Right
The Republicans (France) politicians
Deputies of the 12th National Assembly of the French Fifth Republic
Deputies of the 13th National Assembly of the French Fifth Republic
Members of Parliament for Tarn-et-Garonne
Regional councillors of France
Departmental councillors (France)
Mayors of places in Occitania (administrative region)
Women members of the National Assembly (France)
20th-century French women politicians
21st-century French women politicians
Women mayors of places in France
French lawyers
Union of the Far-Right politicians
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