Thomas Ménagé
Thomas Ménagé (born 6 January 1991) is a French politician and activist who has represented the 4th constituency of the Loiret department in the National Assembly since 2022.
Thomas Ménagé | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Member of the National Assembly for Loiret's 4th constituency | |
| Assumed office 22 June 2022 | |
| Preceded by | Jean-Pierre Door |
| Member of the Regional Council of Centre-Val de Loire | |
| Assumed office 2 July 2021 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 6 January 1992 Blois, France |
| Political party | French Future (2021–present) National Rally (affiliated non-member) |
| Other political affiliations | Union for a Popular Movement (formerly) Debout la France (2014–2019) |
| Alma mater | University of Tours Panthéon-Sorbonne University |
Ménagé was a member of Debout la France (DLF) before he joined other former members in 2021 in founding their own political movement, French Future (LAF). In the 2022 legislative election, the movement formed an alliance with the National Rally (RN) and contested the election on a unified ticket.
Prior to his service in the National Assembly, Ménagé served as Deputy Mayor of Ouchamps from 2014 to 2020. In 2021, he was elected to the Regional Council of Centre-Val de Loire.
Biography
Early life
Ménagé grew up in Ouchamps, Loir-et-Cher. He completed his secondary studies at the Lycée de Pontlevoy. He then obtained a law degree from the University of Tours in 2013 and a master's degree in public law from Panthéon-Sorbonne University in 2015. In 2013–2014, he was active within La Manif pour tous circles.
After graduating he worked in property law and as a construction and real-estate manager.[1]
Debout la France
Politically, Ménagé identifies as a Gaullist. He initially supported the Union for a Popular Movement during the 2007 presidential campaign of Nicolas Sarkozy before joining Debout la France in 2014. He served as Deputy Mayor of Ouchamps for Urbanism from 2014 to 2020.[2]
He served as chief of staff to Nicolas Dupont-Aignan and as a managing director of Debout la France from 2017 to 2019.[3][2] Ahead of the second round of the 2017 presidential election he facilitated the negotiation of an agreement between Nicolas Dupont-Aignan and Marine Le Pen in which Le Pen would appoint Dupont-Aignan as Prime Minister should she win the election.[4][5]
He mulled a run for the National Assembly in the 1st constituency of Loir-et-Cher in 2017 until withdrawing his name.[4]
French Future and National Rally
Ménagé resigned from Debout la France in 2019 citing strategic disagreements between him and the party leadership. With other former Debout la France members he founded a new conservative movement, French Future (L'Avenir français), which he claimed would be conceptionally close to the ideas of the National Rally.[6]
In the 2021 regional election, he was elected as a regional councillor of Centre-Val de Loire, sitting with the National Rally group.[7]
In the 2022 legislative election, he was announced as a candidate in the 4th constituency of Loiret, standing affiliated to the National Rally's ticket despite not being a member of the party. He was elected deputy in the second round with 63.3% of the vote against the French Communist Party candidate Bruno Nottin, who ran under the New Ecological and Social People's Union alliance.[8] Former Education Minister Jean-Michel Blanquer of La République En Marche!, who ran under the Ensemble alliance, failed to reach the second round. In the National Assembly, Ménagé sits with the National Rally group.
References
- "Portrait - Nouveau député RN de Montargis, qui est Thomas Ménagé ?". www.larep.fr (in French). 20 June 2022. Retrieved 20 June 2022.
- "Thomas Ménagé se présente". La Nouvelle République (in French). 11 January 2017.
- "Loir-et-Cher : Thomas Ménagé, jeune candidat aux législatives à Blois". Magcentre (in French). 10 January 2017. Retrieved 21 June 2022.
- "Loir-et-Cher Législatives : Thomas Ménagé (Debout la France) jette l'éponge". Magcentre (in French). 14 May 2017. Retrieved 21 June 2022.
- Hausalter, Louis (16 May 2017). "Aller-retour vers le FN : les quinze jours où Nicolas Dupont-Aignan a tout perdu". www.marianne.net (in French). Retrieved 20 June 2022.
- "Politique - L'Avenir français, parti proche du Rassemblement national, s'implante dans le Loiret". www.larep.fr (in French). 16 April 2021. Retrieved 20 June 2022.
- "MÉNAGÉ | Region Centre-Val de Loire". www.centre-valdeloire.fr (in French). 29 June 2021. Retrieved 20 June 2022.
- "Législatives - Qui est Thomas Ménagé, le nouveau député RN de la 4e circonscription du Loiret ?". www.francebleu.fr (in French). 19 June 2022. Retrieved 22 June 2022.