Stéphane Le Foll (; born 3 February 1960) is a French politician serving as

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 ...

Le Mans Le Mans (; ) is a Communes of France, city in Northwestern France on the Sarthe (river), Sarthe River where it meets the Huisne. Traditionally the capital of the Provinces of France, province of Maine (province), Maine, it is now the capital of ...

since 2018. 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 was Minister of Agriculture under President

François Hollande François Gérard Georges Nicolas Hollande (; born 12 August 1954) is a French politician who served as President of France from 2012 to 2017. Before his presidency, he was First Secretary of the Socialist Party (France), First Secretary of th ...

from 2012 to 2017.

Political career

Member of the European Parliament, 2004–2012

Born in

, Le Foll was elected to the

European Parliament The European Parliament (EP) is one of the two legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it ...

for the Socialist Party, part of

Party of European Socialists The Party of European Socialists (PES) is a Social democracy, social democratic European political party. The PES comprises national-level political parties from all the European Economic Area, European economic area states (EEA) plus the Unit ...

, in

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

. In parliament, Le Foll was a member of the

Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development The Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development (AGRI) is a committee of the European Parliament. Responsibilities of the Committee AGRI is the European Parliament committee responsible for: #The operation and development of the Common Agricul ...

. From 2010 to 2012, he also served on the Special committee on the policy challenges and budgetary resources for a sustainable European Union after 2013. In addition to his committee assignments, he was part of the parliament’s delegation for relations with the

Palestinian Legislative Council The Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC) is the Unicameralism, unicameral legislature of the Palestinian National Authority, Palestinian Authority, elected by the Palestinians, Palestinian residents of the Palestinian territories of the Wes ...

. Le Foll served until 2012, when he was appointed to the

Government of France The Government of France (, ), officially the Government of the French Republic (, ), exercises Executive (government), executive power in France. It is composed of the Prime Minister of France, prime minister, who is the head of government, ...

Minister of Agriculture, 2012–2017

Le Foll successfully stood as a candidate for 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 ...

in the 2012 legislative election, but he resigned to become Minister of Agriculture; fellow party member

Sylvie Tolmont Sylvie Tolmont (; born 9 October 1962) is a French politician from the Socialist Party, who has been the member of the National Assembly for Sarthe's 4th constituency from 2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Coopera ...

took the seat. As Minister of Agriculture in all governments appointed by

, Le Foll was in charge of reforming the

Common Agricultural Policy The Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) is the agricultural policy of the European Commission. It implements a system of agricultural subsidies and other programmes. It was introduced in 1962 and has since then undergone several changes to reduce ...

. He also put an accent on "re-socialising rural territories in France". In 2014, he replaced Najat Vallaud-Belkacem as government spokesperson under Prime Minister Manuel Valls, holding the weekly press briefing at the

Élysée Palace The Élysée Palace (, ) is the official residence of the President of France, President of the French Republic in Paris. Completed in 1722, it was built for Louis Henri de La Tour d'Auvergne, a nobleman and army officer who had been appointed g ...

. Notably, Le Foll unveiled in 2015 a set of financial support measures for livestock farmers whose total value his ministry put at 600 million euros ($655 million), in response to protests by meat and dairy producers facing low prices and high costs. In 2016, he announced a 290 million euro ($314 million) plan to help livestock farmers protesting against a slump in pork and milk prices, and poultry farmers facing a freeze in output due to the spread of bird flu. In 2016, Le Foll became the longest-serving Minister of Agriculture since the office was established in 1836.

Mayor of Le Mans, 2018–present

Le Foll was reelected to the

2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...

. He unsuccessfully stood for the leadership of the Socialist Party at the Aubervilliers Congress in 2018. After the death of Jean-Claude Boulard in 2018, Le Foll became

. He was succeeded by Tolmont in Parliament, his predecessor. In October 2021, he lost out against

Anne Hidalgo Ana María "Anne" Hidalgo Aleu (, ; born 19 June 1959) is a Spanish-French politician who has served as Mayor of Paris since 2014, the first woman to hold the office. She is a member of the Socialist Party (France), Socialist Party (PS). Hidalg ...

in the Socialist primary for the

2022 French presidential election Presidential elections were held in France on 10 and 24 April 2022. As no candidate won a majority in the first round, a Two-round system, runoff was held, in which Emmanuel Macron defeated Marine Le Pen and was re-elected as President of France. ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Le Foll, Stephane 1960 births Living people French people of Breton descent MEPs for West France 2004–2009 MEPs for West France 2009–2014 Socialist Party (France) MEPs Ministers of agriculture of France People from Le Mans Nantes University alumni Deputies of the 15th National Assembly of the French Fifth Republic Mayors of places in Pays de la Loire Politicians from Pays de la Loire Conservatoire national des arts et métiers alumni