Bertrand Delanoë

Infobox Politician
name = Bertrand Delanoë


caption = Photo by Xavier Thomas
small_

office = Mayor of Paris
term_start = 25 March 2001
term_end =
predecessor = Jean Tiberi
successor =
office2 = Senator for Paris
term_start2 = 24 September 1995
term_end2 = 27 March 2001
predecessor2 =
successor2 =
assembly3 = French National
constituency_AM3=Paris (26th constituency)
term_start3 = 21 June 1981
term_end3 = 1 April 1986
predecessor3 = Joël Le Tac
successor3 = Alain Juppé
birth_date = Birth date and age|1950|05|30|mf=y
birth_place = Tunis, French Tunisia
nationality = French flagicon|France
death_date =
death_place =
party = French Socialist Party
relations =
residence =
alma_mater =
occupation =
religion =


website = http://bertranddelanoe.net/
footnotes =

Bertrand Delanoë (born 30 May 1950) IPA|/bɛʁtʁɑ̃ dəlanɔe/ (audio|Fr-Bertrand Delanoe.ogg|pronunciation) is a French politician, and has been the mayor of Paris since 2001. He is from the French Socialist Party. He is considered to be a potential candidate for President of the French Republic in 2012. If elected to the Presidency, Delanoë would become the first openly gay leader of a country in modern world history.

Delanoë was born in Tunis, Tunisia to a Tunisian-French father and a French mother. He moved to France with his family in his teens. He is openly gay. [ [http://www.citymayors.com/mayors/paris_mayor.html City Mayors: Bertrand Delanoe - Mayor of Paris ] ] [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/2305849.stm BBC NEWS | World | Europe | Psychiatric tests for anti-gay attacker ] ]

Early life

Bertrand Delanoë was born 30 May 1950 in Tunis, to an atheist father (a land surveyor) and a Roman Catholic mother (a nurse). [http://elections.leparisien.fr/elections-municipales-2008/actualite-resultats-direct-municipales/6044-bertrand-delanoe-descendant-de-rescapes.php "Bertrand Delanoë, descendant de rescapés"] , "Le Parisien", 15 mars 2008.] At 6 years old, Delanoë became a member of the "Petits Chanteurs des Sables", a choral group associated with the Petits Chanteurs à la Croix de Bois. [ [http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Man%C3%A9canterie_des_Petits_Chanteurs_%C3%A0_la_croix_de_bois] Petits Chanteurs à la Croix de Bois ]

At the age of 11, Delanoë witnessed the battle of Bizerte [http://hebdo.nouvelobs.com/hebdo/parution/p20010118/articles/a58442-.html Delanoë les métamorphoses d'un amoureux de Paris - Le Nouvel Observateur No 1889 ] .

After the military base was closed in 1963, Delanoë's family broke up. His mother came to live in Rodez (Aveyron), with her son. After leaving school, Delanoë is said to have started studies in law at the University of Toulouse. The Who's Who in French lists him as having a diploma in economics [http://www.scribd.com/doc/2626780/Faits-Documents-n106 Faits & Documents n°106 - Lettre d'informations confidentielles d'Emmanuel Ratier] .

Career

Early political career

Delanoë has been involved in politics since the age of twenty-three as the secretary of the Socialist federation in Aveyron.He was first elected to the Paris city council in 1977.In 1993, he became the head of the city's Socialist Party.In 1995, he was elected to the French Senate, where he was secretary of the Committee on Foreign Affairs and Defense.

Mayor of Paris

Delanoë has been mayor of Paris since 18 March 2001, when control of the city council was won by a left-wing alliance for the first time since the 1871 Paris Commune. His predecessors were Jean Tiberi (1995–2001), and Jacques Chirac (1977–95), who resigned after 18 years as mayor when he was elected president of France.

Delanoë won the mayorship of Paris, at the head of a coalition of Socialists, Greens and Communists, over the conservative candidates Jean Tiberi and Philippe Séguin, who were unable to resolve their differences and thereby split the conservative vote. This success in a city which has traditionally been a stronghold of the right was made all the more striking by setbacks to the Left in the 2001 elections that occurred more generally — has been partially attributed with the weariness of the Parisian public with respect to various scandals of corruption and graft in the preceding administrations (see corruption scandals in the Paris region).

Delanoë was virtually unknown before the election of 2001, but soon gained notoriety for organising new and unusual events in Paris, such as the "Paris Beach" "(Paris Plage)" on the banks of the Seine every summer in order to give Parisians who could not take a regular vacation a chance to relax, sunbathe and build sandcastles in the center of Paris. The program, especially popular with families with children, has been in place since 2002, and has since been copied by many other international cities.

Since becoming mayor, Delanoë's goals have been to improve the quality of life, reduce pollution, and cut down on vehicle traffic within the city (including a plan for a non-polluting tramway to ease Parisian traffic) and pedestrian malls. Recently he has helped introduce a new program called Vélib' (a portmanteau of “vélo" and "libre” meaning "free bicycles") which gives Parisians access to inexpensive rental bicycles which are available in stations all around Paris. The program has been enormously successful despite the fact that it still has a few logistical problems to be worked out. [ [http://us.franceguide.com/article.html?NodeID=1&EditoID=88863 Vélib'information in English.] ] He has outlined a plan for an autolib, whereby small cars would be shared. [ [http://www.guardian.co.uk/france/story/0,,2236005,00.html The Observer profile: Bertrand Delanoë | World news | The Observer ] ]

He was reelected in 2008 (57.7%) for a new six-year-term (2008-2014).

Potential Presidential Bid

Delanoë may consider challenging current president Sarkozy in the Presidential election in 2012. However before then, he likely would need to win the battle to become First Secretary of the Socialist Party, held towards the end of 2008. Here he would likely face a challenge from Ségolène Royal. [ [http://www.guardian.co.uk/france/story/0,,2236005,00.html The Observer profile: Bertrand Delanoë | World news | The Observer ] ] Political polls six months before the Socialist Party Congress give Delanoë the advantage over Royal in a presidential election among the public. [ [http://www.leparisien.fr/home/info/politique/articles.htm?articleid=298522046 Delanoë plus convaincant que Royal] ]

Assassination attempt

He was stabbed on October 5, 2002 during the "Nuit Blanche", a night of festivities in Paris, while mingling with the public. His assailant, Azedine Berkane, reportedly told police that "he hated politicians, the Socialist Party, and the homosexuals".Before being taken to hospital, Delanoë ordered that the festivities continue. Delanoë's wound was reported not to be life-threatening and he left the hospital after about two weeks.cite web |last=Rapp |first=Linda |title=Delanoë, Bertrand |work=glbtq.com |date=2007-08-13 |url=http://www.glbtq.com/social-sciences/delanoe_b.html] Azedine Berkane was eventually permitted to leave the psychiatric hospital where he had been a patient after his doctors no longer considered him a threat. However, in early April, 2007, he failed to keep a scheduled appointment with his doctors, and has not been seen since. [cite web | title=L'agresseur de Bertrand Delanoë a disparu, April 7, 2007
url=http://tf1.lci.fr/infos/france/faits-divers/0,,3427811,00-agresseur-bertrand-delanoe-disparu-.html
accessdate=September 3 | accessyear=2007]

Olympic bid

The failure to secure the 2012 Summer Olympics for Paris on July 6, 2005 was Delanoë's first major setback as mayor. In the aftermath of the defeat in his Olympic bid, he accused British prime minister Tony Blair of unduly influencing the result in order to secure the games in London. However, Bertrand Delanoë's popularity in fact rose during July 2005 [ [http://news.tf1.fr/news/france/0,,3232946,00.html Sondage : Delanoë au top, Villepin galope] ("Survey: Delanoë on top, Villepin galloping"), "TF1", 21 July 2005 fr icon] . The French public appeared to have laid more of the blame on President Jacques Chirac, who allegedly said that "the only worse food than British food is Finnish" and "the only thing the British have done for Europe's agriculture is mad cow disease", which may have offended two Finnish members of the International Olympic Committee.

Homosexuality

Delanoë was one of the first major French politicians to announce that he was gay, during a 1998 television interview (before being elected mayor). His election made Paris the world's largest city with an openly LGBT mayor, followed by Berlin whose mayor is Klaus Wowereit (the third largest is Hamburg with Ole von Beust). All three have taken office since 2001; previously, the largest city with an LGBT mayor had been Winnipeg, Canada, with mayor Glen Murray.

Delanoë is not known for taking an active part in the gay and lesbian community, but he has helped end discrimination in municipal subsidies to civic groups. Political opponents argueFact|date=July 2008 though that such choices are just a new example of clientelism.

ee also

*Violence against LGBT people

References

External links

*fr icon [http://bertranddelanoe.net/ Bertrand Delanoë's web site]
*fr icon [http://www.lemonde.fr/article/0,5987,3228--285243-,00.html Paris and beaches]
* [http://www.paris.fr/en/city_government/mayor.asp The Mayor of Paris, from www.paris.fr]
* [http://www.vivement2008.com/ An opponent's view on Parisian politics]
* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/2305849.stm BBC report on stabbing]
* [http://www.citymayors.com/mayors/paris_mayor.html CityMayors.com profile]
*fr icon [http://www.csa-tmo.fr/dataset/data2006/opi20060111c.htm Poll of Parisians on Delanoë, January 2006]

Persondata
NAME=Delanoë, Bertrand
ALTERNATIVE NAMES=
SHORT DESCRIPTION=French politician
DATE OF BIRTH=May 30, 1950
PLACE OF BIRTH=Tunis, Tunisia
DATE OF DEATH=living
PLACE OF DEATH=