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Martine Aubry | |
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_crop.jpg) Aubry in 2012 | |
| First Secretary of the Socialist Party | |
| In office 26 November 2008 – 12 September 2012* | |
| Preceded by | François Hollande |
| Succeeded by | Harlem Désir |
| Mayor ofLille | |
| In office 25 March 2001 – 21 March 2025 | |
| Preceded by | Pierre Mauroy |
| Succeeded by | Arnaud Deslandes |
| Minister of Social Affairs | |
| In office 2 June 1997 – 18 October 2000 | |
| Prime Minister | Lionel Jospin |
| Preceded by | Jean-Claude Gaudin |
| Succeeded by | Élisabeth Guigou |
| Minister of Labour, Employment and Vocational Training | |
| In office 15 May 1991 – 28 March 1993 | |
| Prime Minister | Édith Cresson Pierre Bérégovoy |
| Preceded by | Jean-Pierre Soisson |
| Succeeded by | Michel Giraud |
| Member of theNational Assembly forNord's 5th Constituency | |
| In office 12 June 1997 – 4 July 1997 | |
| Preceded by | Bernard Davoine |
| Succeeded by | Bernard Davoine |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Martine Louise Marie Delors (1950-08-08)8 August 1950 (age 75) Paris, France |
| Party | Socialist Party |
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| Alma mater | Pantheon-Assas University Sciences Po École Nationale d'Administration |
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Martine Louise Marie Aubry (French:[maʁtinobʁi];néeDelors; born 8 August 1950)[1] is a French politician. She was the First Secretary of theFrench Socialist Party (Parti Socialiste, or PS) from November 2008 to April 2012, and was theMayor ofLille from March 2001 to March 2025; she is the first woman to hold either position. Her father,Jacques Delors, served as Minister of Finance under PresidentFrançois Mitterrand and was also President of theEuropean Commission.
Aubry joined the PS in 1974, and was appointed Minister of Labour by Prime MinisterÉdith Cresson in 1991, but lost her position in 1993 after the Right won the legislative elections. However, she became Minister of Social Affairs whenLionel Jospin was appointedPrime Minister in 1997. She is mostly known for having pushed the popular35-hour workweek law, known as the "Loi Aubry", reducing the nominal length of the normal full-time working week from 39 to 35 hours, and the law that createdCouverture maladie universelle (Universal health care coverage).
Aubry stepped down from her Cabinet post in 2001 to be electedMayor of Lille in place ofPierre Mauroy. Aubry subsequently lost her seat in theNational Assembly in thegeneral election of 2002. In March 2008, she was re-elected Mayor of Lille, with 66.55% of the votes.
In November 2008, Aubry was elected to lead the Socialist Party, narrowly defeatingSégolène Royal. While Royal disputed the results, the Socialist Party declared on 25 November 2008 that Aubry had won the contested election. On 28 June 2011, Martine Aubry announced she would seek theSocialist nomination to run in the2012 presidential election, ultimately losing toFrançois Hollande, her predecessor as First Secretary.
Born inParis, Aubry is the daughter ofJacques Delors, French Minister of Finance (1981–1985) and European Commission President (1985–1995), and his wife Marie. Aubry was educated at the lycée Notre-Dame-des-Oiseaux[2] and the lycée Paul-Valéry (in Paris).[3] She holds a degree in economic science fromPanthéon-Assas University.[4]
She did additional studies, gaining a diploma from theInstitut des Sciences Sociales du Travail, and one from theInstitut d'Études Politiques de Paris (orSciences Po) in 1972. Between 1973 and 1975, Aubry studied at theÉcole nationale d'administration (ÉNA, National School of Administration).
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In 1975 Aubry became a civil administrator at the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs (Ministère du Travail et des Affaires sociales). During this period, she was active within theFrench Democratic Confederation of Labour (CFDT). She became a professor at ÉNA in 1978. In addition, she was seconded to theState Council between 1980 and 1981.
Following the election ofFrançois Mitterrand to theFrench presidency in 1981, Aubry successively held several posts at the Ministry of Social Affairs, in the cabinets ofJean Auroux andPierre Bérégovoy. In 1984, she investigated Frenchasbestos policy for the Comité Permanent Amiante (Permanent Asbestos Committee, an informal public-private working group formed to manage the health problems of workers affected by asbestos). The group's deputy director, Jean-Luc Pasquier, testified before the courts to account for the group's members' actions.
After the defeat of the socialists in theFrench legislative election of 1986, Aubry was namedMaster of Requests at the State Council. From 1989 to 1991 she worked as Assistant Director atPechiney, working withJean Gandois. She was involved with the opening of a plant atDunkerque and the closure of the aluminium works atNoguères.[5]
Aubry was named Minister of Labour, Employment and Vocational Training byÉdith Cresson, and carried on in this capacity in theBérégovoy ministry until March 1993. According to Jean-Luc Pasquier,[6] she supported the controlled use of asbestos whilst all other members of the EEC supported an outright ban. She caused the French veto of a European decree against the use of asbestos.[7] France did not ban asbestos until 1997.[8]
In January 2010, a public health judge charged with investigating former government measures on asbestos had Aubry interrogated by gendarmes in Lille.[9]
When the Right came into power at theFrench legislative election in 1986, Aubry started theFondation Agir Contre l'Exclusion (FACE, the Act Against Exclusion Foundation). In 1995,Pierre Mauroy named her as the first deputy to the Mayor ofLille, thus giving her a foothold in thedepartment of Nord.
Lionel Jospin, who became the socialist candidate as French President in 1995, made her his campaign spokesman during thepresidential campaign. Upon his defeat, Jospin became first secretary of theSocialist Party, and offered her the number two spot, which Aubry refused.
Aubry had good relations with part of the establishment, especially with her former Pechiney boss, Jean Gandois, and theParti communiste francais. But she did not get on well with the unions, in particular withNicole Notat, the former General Secretary of the CFDT.[citation needed]
Aubry has been described as hard and demanding. She counters, "Je dis les choses en face, je ne suis pas faux-cul. Mais je crois être bien moins dure que beaucoup de gens en politique. Je suis même peut-être trop sensible. (I'm up-front, and I'm not a hypocrite. But I think I'm much less hard than many politicians. I may even be too sensitive.)[5] "
Elected as a member of the National Assembly, Aubry was appointed in 1997 as Minister of Employment and Solidarity, the most important minister after the Prime Minister. The same year, to fight unemployment, she created a new employment contract for young people (Emplois-jeunes) with financial help from the government. In 1998, a law establishing the 35-hour workweek was adopted.
In 1999, theCouverture maladie universelle (CMU), a program that reimburses medical expenses throughsocial security for everyone, was voted through. Furthermore, for people on low incomes, the CMU offers complementary health coverage of 100%, which is added to standard Social Security payments; this avoids the necessity for additional private (top-up) insurance.
On 28 June 2011, Aubry said in a televised address from the formertrain station of Lille-Saint-Sauveur: "I have decided to propose my candidacy to the presidential election".[10]
Following the first round of thecitizens primary, she faced François Hollande in the second round of voting on 16 October in a two-way runoff. In the final round of voting, Hollande won the nomination with 56.6% of the vote.
After Aubry's defeat in the primaries, she became one of the main supporters of theFrancois Hollande presidential campaign. Aubry's name had been mentioned as a potentialprime minister for François Hollande.[11] But, after Hollande was elected President, he choseJean-Marc Ayrault as Prime Minister; Aubry refused to join hiscabinet.[12]
On several occasions, Aubry expressed criticism of theManuel Valls government, including the fact that he was chosen.[13] In October 2014, she asked for a reorientation of the economic policy.[14]
During a press conference held on 23 September 2015, where Aubry confirmed the choice ofPierre de Saintignon as the head of list for the next coming Regional Elections, she said that the bad polls of the list are partly caused by some choices of the government. She was criticisingEmmanuel Macron, Minister of Economy since 2014, saying: "Macron? How to tell it... The cup is full."[15]
Ahead of the Socialist Party's2017 primaries, Aubry publicly endorsedBenoît Hamon as the party's candidate for thepresidential election later that year.[16]
| Political offices | ||
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| Preceded by | Minister of Labour, Employment and Vocational Training 1991–1993 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Minister of Social Affairs 1997–2000 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Mayor ofLille 2001–present | Incumbent |
| Party political offices | ||
| Preceded by | First Secretary of the Socialist Party 2008–2012 | Succeeded by |
| International | |
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