Olivier Faure (French: [ɔlivie fɔʁ]; born 18 August 1968) is a French politician who has served as the First Secretary of the Socialist Party since 2018 and Member of the National Assembly for Seine-et-Marne's 11th constituency since 2012. He was elected to the post of first secretary in the party's Aubervilliers Congress and re-elected in the 2021 Villeurbanne Congress. Faure was previously the head of the New Left group (French: Groupe Nouvelle Gauche), the parliamentary group formed around the PS in the National Assembly, from December 2016 to April 2018.
Early life
Olivier Faure was born in 1968 to a Vietnamese nurse of Chinese origin and a French tax agent of Spanish origin. After spending his early childhood in Réunion, he grew up in Metropolitan France, where he pursued his studies. Faure attended the Pothier d'Orléans lycée and then the University of Orléans, where he graduated with a Master of Advanced Studies (MAS) in economic law, and the Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne University, where he graduated with a MAS in political science.
Political career
Faure joined the Socialist Party (PS) at the age of 16 and also became an activist for the National Union of Students of France (UNEF). It was as a member of the PS that he met Benoît Hamon, with whom he shared an apartment for a time. In 1991, at the age of 23, Faure became the secretary-general of the Young Rocardiens, a group supporting Prime Minister Michel Rocard.
From 1991 to 1993, Faure worked with Gérard Gouzes, the president of the commission of law in the National Assembly. From 1993 to 1997, Faure served as the chief executive of a business with 150 employees. Faure then served as an advisor to Martine Aubry in the Ministry of Labour, Employment and Vocational Training from 1997 to 2000 and assistant cabinet director to Socialist First Secretary François Hollande from 2000 to 2007. At the beginning of 2007, he published a comic book titled Ségo, François, papa et moi about the inner workings of Ségolène Royal's campaign to become the PS candidate in the 2007 French presidential election.
Faure ran to represent Seine-et-Marne's 8th constituency in the National Assembly in the 2007 French legislative elections but lost to Chantal Brunel of the Union for a Popular Movement (UMP). In October 2007, Faure joined the leader of the Socialist group in the National Assembly, Jean-Marc Ayrault, to become the formation's secretary-general.
Member of the National Assembly, 2012–present
During the 2011 Socialist presidential primary, Faure worked as the chief of communications for the François Hollande campaign. After Hollande won the primary, Faure became his "expert opinion" in the 2012 French presidential election. The Socialist candidate went on to win the general election, and Faure was appointed special adviser to Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault, from which position he resigned soon after.
In January 2012, Faure was nominated by the PS as its candidate in Seine-et-Marne's 11th constituency for the 2012 French legislative elections. The party was well-positioned to win the constituency due to an electoral pact with Europe Ecology – The Greens (EELV), who withdrew their candidate, Jean-Marc Brûlé, from the race. Faure was elected on 17 June with 63.2% of the vote in the second round, against the UMP's Cathy Bissonier with 36.78% of the vote. Upon entering the National Assembly, he was named third vice-president of the Socialist, Republican and Citizen (SRC) group of deputies. On 18 July 2012, Faure became the national secretary of communications for the PS, thereby joining the party's executive team.
On 15 April 2014, Faure was chosen as one of the spokespeople for the PS at the party's national council. In June 2014, Faure introduced an amendment adding a tax of two euros per person per night stayed in the Île-de-France "for financing francilien public transit." During this session of the National Assembly, he served as the special rapporteur for the collective and rail transport infrastructure budget. In December 2014, Faure successfully passed an amendment to the law on finances, implementing a Navigo card with a single price.
On 13 December 2016, Faure succeeded Bruno Le Roux to become the head of the Socialist, Republican and Citizen group. His election by 137 votes against 120 for Guillaume Bachelay was regarded as a blow to Prime Minister Manuel Valls. Faure and Valls had become opponents after the Prime Minister refused to consider Faure's compromise amendment to Article 2 of the El Khomri law in July 2016. As president of the SRC group, Faure attempted to find new compromises on the El Khomri law and legislation concerning the revocation of French citizenship.