François Fillon
François Charles Armand Fillon (French pronunciation: [fʁɑ̃swa ʃaʁl aʁmɑ̃ fijɔ̃]; 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 for a Popular Movement), the country's largest centre-right political party, for the 2017 presidential election in which he ranked third in the first round of voting.
François Fillon | |
|---|---|
Fillon in January 2010 | |
| Prime Minister of France | |
| In office 17 May 2007 – 15 May 2012 | |
| President | Nicolas Sarkozy |
| Preceded by | Dominique de Villepin |
| Succeeded by | Jean-Marc Ayrault |
| Minister of Ecology, Sustainable Development, Transport and Housing | |
| In office 23 February 2012 – 16 May 2012 | |
| Prime Minister | Himself |
| Preceded by | Nathalie Kosciusko-Morizet |
| Succeeded by | Nicole Bricq (Ecology, Sustainable Development and Energy) |
| Minister of National Education, Higher Education and Research | |
| In office 31 March 2004 – 31 May 2005 | |
| Prime Minister | Jean-Pierre Raffarin |
| Preceded by | Luc Ferry (National Education and Research) François Loos (Higher Education) |
| Succeeded by | Gilles de Robien |
| Minister of Social Affairs, Labour and Solidarity | |
| In office 7 May 2002 – 30 March 2004 | |
| Prime Minister | Jean-Pierre Raffarin |
| Preceded by | Élisabeth Guigou |
| Succeeded by | Jean-Louis Borloo |
| President of the Regional Council of Pays de la Loire | |
| In office 20 March 1998 – 16 May 2002 | |
| Preceded by | Olivier Guichard |
| Succeeded by | Jean-Luc Harousseau |
| Minister delegate for Posts, Telecommunications and Space | |
| In office 7 November 1995 – 2 June 1997 | |
| Prime Minister | Alain Juppé |
| Preceded by | Himself (Information Technologies and Posts) |
| Succeeded by | Christian Pierret |
| Minister of Information Technologies and Posts | |
| In office 18 May 1995 – 7 November 1995 | |
| Prime Minister | Alain Juppé |
| Preceded by | José Rossi (Industry, Posts and Telecommunications and External Trade) |
| Succeeded by | Franck Borotra (Industry, Posts and Telecommunications) Himself (Information Technologies and Posts) |
| Minister of Higher Education and Research | |
| In office 30 March 1993 – 11 May 1995 | |
| Prime Minister | Édouard Balladur |
| Preceded by | Hubert Curien (Research) |
| Succeeded by | François Bayrou |
| President of the General Council of Sarthe | |
| In office 20 April 1992 – 20 March 1998 | |
| Preceded by | Michel d'Aillières |
| Succeeded by | Roland du Luart |
| Personal details | |
| Born | François Charles Armand Fillon 4 March 1954 Le Mans, France |
| Political party | The Republicans (since 2015) |
| Other political affiliations |
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| Spouse |
Penelope Clarke (m. 1980) |
| Children | 5 |
| Alma mater |
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| Signature | |
Fillon became Jean-Pierre Raffarin's Minister of Labour in 2002 and undertook controversial reforms of the 35-hour working week law and of the French retirement system. In 2004, as Minister of National Education he proposed the much debated Fillon law on Education.
In 2005, Fillon was elected senator for the Sarthe department. His role as a political advisor in Nicolas Sarkozy's successful race for president led to his becoming prime minister in 2007. Fillon resigned upon Sarkozy's defeat by François Hollande in the 2012 presidential elections.
Running on a platform described as conservative, he won the 2016 The Republicans presidential primary, defeating Alain Juppé. Following his victory in the primary, opinion polls showed Fillon as the frontrunner for the 2017 presidential election. But in March 2017, he was formally charged in an embezzlement investigation in a case that became known as "Penelopegate" due to the involvement of his wife. In April, he finally came third in the first round with 20%, and was therefore excluded from the runoff between the top two finishers.
In 2020, he was convicted of fraud and misuse of funds, and sentenced to five years in prison (three of them suspended). He has appealed against the sentence. In May 2022, the sentence was shortened to four years in prison (three of them suspended).
In December 2021, Fillon was named as a member of the Board of Directors of SIBUR Holding, the largest integrated petrochemical company in Russia. He resigned from this position in February 2022, following the Russian invasion of Ukraine.