Najat Vallaud-Belkacem

Najat Vallaud-Belkacem
Conseillère Générale for Rhône, Spokesperson for Ségolène Royal
Personal details
Born	4 October 1977 (1977-10-04) (age 34) Le Rif, Morocco
Nationality	French

Najat Vallaud-Belkacem (born 4 October 1977) is a French politician of the Socialist General Council. She was advisor to Ségolène Royal's campaign during the 2007 French General Election. Since 2008 she has been sixth deputy Mayor of Lyon, responsible for major events, youth and community life.

Biography

Second in a family of seven children, Najat Vallaud-Belkacem was born in the Moroccan countryside in 1977 in Beni Chike, a village near Nador. In 1982 she rejoined her father, a French building worker, with her mother and elder sister Fatiha, and grew up in the suburbs of Amiens.^[1] She graduated from the Institut d'études politiques de Paris ("Paris Institute of Political Studies") in 2002. At the Institut she met Boris Vallaud, whom she married on 27 August 2005.^[2]

She joined the Socialist Party in 2002 and joined the team of Gérard Collomb, Senator/Mayor of Lyon, in 2003 leading actions to strengthen local democracy, the fight against discrimination, promotion of citizen rights, and access to employment and housing.

Elected to the Regional Council of Rhone-Alpes in 2004, she presides over the Culture Commission. In 2005, she became adviser to the Socialist Party. In 2005 and 2006 she was a columnist for the cultural programme C'est tout vu on Télé Lyon Municipale alongside Stéphane Cayrol.

In February 2007 she joined Ségolène Royal's campaign team as a spokesperson, alongside Vincent Peillon and Arnaud Montebourg.

In March 2008 she was elected Conseillère Générale for Rhône in the cantonal elections with 58.52% of the votes in the second round.

References

Translator's note: These are in French.

1. ^ Jacques Bertoin, « Najat Belkacem, la vie en rose », Jeune-afrique.com, 18.
2. ^ See « Le mari de Najat Belkacem rejoint Arnaud Montebourg » in Lyonmag, 14.

Persondata
Name	Vallaud-Belkacem, Najat
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	4 October 1977
Place of birth	Le Rif, Morocco
Date of death
Place of death