Michèle Tabarot (born 13 October 1962) is a French politician of the Republicans who served as a member of the

National Assembly of France The National Assembly (, ) is the lower house of the Bicameralism, bicameral French Parliament under the French Fifth Republic, Fifth Republic, the upper house being the Senate (France), Senate (). The National Assembly's legislators are known ...

from 2002 to 2024, representing Alpes-Maritimes' 9th constituency.

Early life

Tabarot is the daughter of Robert Tabarot, Knight of the National Order of Merit, who was one of the leaders of the OAS in

Oran Oran () is a major coastal city located in the northwest of Algeria. It is considered the second most important city of Algeria, after the capital, Algiers, because of its population and commercial, industrial and cultural importance. It is w ...

, and former

North Africa North Africa (sometimes Northern Africa) is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region. However, it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of t ...

n boxing champion (nicknamed "The Rock"). Her brother Philippe Tabarot is a member of the

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

. Arrival of Algeria, the family Tabarot exiles in Alicante (Spain) to the independence of Algeria, and remains there until 1969, after the

amnesty Amnesty () is defined as "A pardon extended by the government to a group or class of people, usually for a political offense; the act of a sovereign power officially forgiving certain classes of people who are subject to trial but have not yet be ...

of the old ones of the OAS.

Political career

Career in local politics

Tabarot was Vice-mayor of Pierre Bachelet,

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporation, municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilitie ...

RPR of

Cannet Cannet (; ) is a former commune in the Gers department in southwestern France. On 1 January 2019, it was merged into the commune Riscle.

from 1983 to 1995. She defeated him in the municipal elections of 1995. Since then, Tabarot has been re-elected mayor each time since the first round, in 2001 under the

liberal-democratic Liberal democracy, also called Western-style democracy, or substantive democracy, is a form of government that combines the organization of a democracy with ideas of liberal political philosophy. Common elements within a liberal democracy are: ...

label, in 2008 under the

UMP UMP may refer to: Science * Ultra metal-poor star, refers to a type of star with extremely low levels of heavier elements * Uniformly most powerful test, in statistical hypothesis testing * Uridine monophosphate, a nucleotide * Utility maximizat ...

label (64.96% of votes), then in 2014 under the

label (50.45% of the votes). Due to the limitation of the plurality of the mandates, Tabarot resigned from her position of

Mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporation, municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilitie ...

Cannet Cannet (; ) is a former commune in the Gers department in southwestern France. On 1 January 2019, it was merged into the commune Riscle.

on 24 July 2017.

Member of the National Assembly

Tabarot's first time as a candidate for the National Assembly was a

Union for French Democracy The Union for French Democracy ( ; UDF) was a centre-right political party in France. The UDF was founded in 1978 as an electoral alliance to support President Valéry Giscard d'Estaing in order to counterbalance the Gaullist preponderance over ...

Liberal Democracy Liberal democracy, also called Western-style democracy, or substantive democracy, is a form of government that combines the organization of a democracy with ideas of liberalism, liberal political philosophy. Common elements within a liberal dem ...

candidate in the 1997 legislative elections in the 9th constituency of Alpes-Maritimes, but she was beaten in the first round. Tabarot was elected member of Parliament on 16 June 2002, for the 12th Legislature (2002–2007), in the 9th constituency of Alpes-Maritimes. She was re-elected in the first round, on 10 June 2007 with 53.13% of the votes, defeating André Aschieri,

ecologist Ecology () is the natural science of the relationships among living organisms and their environment. Ecology considers organisms at the individual, population, community, ecosystem, and biosphere levels. Ecology overlaps with the closely re ...

and mayor of

Mouans-Sartoux Mouans-Sartoux (; known in Occitan as ''Moans e Sartòu'' or ''Moans e Sartol'') is a commune in the Alpes-Maritimes department in southeastern France. The inhabitants are called Mouansois. The commune of Sartoux was combined with the commun ...

. From 1 July 2009 to 28 June 2012, she was a Chairperson of the

Cultural and Education Affairs Committee The Cultural and Education Affairs Committee (French language, French: ''Commission des Affaires culturelles et de l'Éducation'') is one of the eight standing committees of the National Assembly (France), French National Assembly, created on Ju ...

. She was re-elected, on 17 June 2012 and she became vice-chair of the

. In the UMP's 2012 leadership election, Tabarot endorsed

Jean-François Copé Jean-François Copé (; born 5 May 1964) is a French politician serving as Mayor of Meaux since 1995 with an interruption from 2002 to 2005. He was Government Spokesman between 2002 and 2007, when assumed other tenures in the government—inclu ...

. In the Republicans' 2016 presidential primaries, Tabarot endorsed Copé as the party's candidate for the office of

President of France The president of France, officially the president of the French Republic (), is the executive head of state of France, and the commander-in-chief of the French Armed Forces. As the presidency is the supreme magistracy of the country, the po ...

. She later served as Copé's campaign director. On 3 March 2017, in the context of the

Fillon affair The Fillon affair (also the Penelope Fillon affair or Penelopegate) is a political-financial scandal involving immediate family members of French politician François Fillon being given paid jobs that involved no or very little actual work. The c ...

, she gave up supporting candidate

François Fillon François Charles Amand Fillon (; born 4 March 1954) is a French retired politician who served as Prime Minister of France from 2007 to 2012 under President Nicolas Sarkozy. He was the nominee of The Republicans (previously known as the Union ...

LR 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 p ...

and asked for his replacement by

Alain Juppé Alain Marie Juppé (; born 15 August 1945) is a French politician. A member of The Republicans, he was Prime Minister of France from 1995 to 1997 under President Jacques Chirac, during which period he faced major strikes that paralysed the c ...

. Tabarot was re-elected in the

2017 French legislative election Legislative elections in France, Legislative elections were held in France on 11 and 18 June 2017 (with different dates for voters overseas) to elect the 577 Member of Parliament (France), members of the 15th legislature of the French Fifth Rep ...

. She sits on the

Foreign Affairs Committee Foreign Affairs Committee may refer to: * Canadian House of Commons Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Development * Canadian Senate Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Trade * Foreign Affairs Committee of t ...

and the Committee on European Affairs. In addition to her committee assignments, she serves as Vice-President of the

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

Friendship Group in

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 2022, she has also been part of the French delegation to the

NATO Parliamentary Assembly The NATO Parliamentary Assembly serves as the consultative interparliamentary organisation for the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). It consists of delegates from the parliaments of the 32 NATO member countries as well as from associate ...

, where she serves on the Political Committee, the Sub-Committee on NATO Partnerships, the Sub-Committee on Transatlantic Relations and the Mediterranean and Middle East Special Group. In the Republicans’ 2017 leadership election, Tabarot endorsed

Laurent Wauquiez Laurent Timothée Marie Wauquiez (; born 12 April 1975) is a French politician who has presided over the Regional Council of Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes from 2016 to 2024. He is a member of The Republicans (LR), which he led from 2017 to 2019 follow ...

as chairman. Following Christian Jacob’ s election as LR chairman, Tabarot announced her candidacy to succeed him as leader of the party's parliamentary group. In an internal vote in November 2019, she eventually came in third out of six candidates; the position went to

Damien Abad Damien Abad (; born 5 April 1980) is a French politician who briefly served as Minister of Solidarity in the Borne government, government of Prime Minister of France, Prime Minister Élisabeth Borne in 2022. Abad previously served as Member of ...

instead. In the run-up to the Republicans’ 2022 convention, Tabarot endorsed

Éric Ciotti Éric Ciotti ( or , ; born 28 September 1965) is a French politician who led The Republicans (LR) from 2022 to 2024. He has represented Alpes-Maritimes's 1st constituency in the National Assembly since the 2007 legislative election. Once a m ...

as the party's chairman.

Political positions

In July 2019, Tabarot voted in favor of the French ratification of the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...

Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement The Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA; French: ''accord économique et commercial global'', AECG; German: ''Umfassendes Wirtschafts- und Handelsabkommen'') is a free-trade agreement between Canada and the European Union and its ...

(CETA) with

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

. In 2020, Tabarot co-authored (along with

Jacques Maire Jacques Maire (; born 4 April 1962) is a French politician who represented the Hauts-de-Seine's 8th constituency, 8th constituency of the Hauts-de-Seine Departments of France, department in the National Assembly (France), National Assembly from 2 ...

) a parliamentary report recommending tighter parliamentary oversight of government decisions on arms exports.Elise Vincent (17 November 2020)
Deux députés réclament un droit de regard permanent sur les exportations d'armes
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Le Monde (; ) is a mass media in France, French daily afternoon list of newspapers in France, newspaper. It is the main publication of Le Monde Group and reported an average print circulation, circulation of 480,000 copies per issue in 2022, including ...

''.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tabarot, Michele 1962 births Living people Politicians from Alicante The Republicans (France) politicians Union for French Democracy politicians Liberal Democracy (France) politicians Union for a Popular Movement politicians The Strong Right Modern and Humanist France Women members of the National Assembly (France) Women mayors of places in France Deputies of the 12th National Assembly of the French Fifth Republic Deputies of the 13th National Assembly of the French Fifth Republic Deputies of the 14th National Assembly of the French Fifth Republic Deputies of the 15th National Assembly of the French Fifth Republic 21st-century French women politicians Deputies of the 16th National Assembly of the French Fifth Republic