There was little suspense but a hint of emotion this Thursday afternoon in the hemicycle.
Michel Ménard (PS) was elected president of the Loire-Atlantique departmental council against Laurent Turquois, with 36 votes against 25 (and a blank ballot).
Elected to this assembly since 2001, the 60-year-old succeeds Philippe Grosvalet, who did not stand for re-election, at the head of the only department on the left in the Pays de la Loire region.
I was born “to farming parents, on a small farm, a very modest family, and that is perhaps what mobilized me on issues of equality and access to education,” explained Michel. Ménard.
Engaged in his youth in popular education movements, he then completed his militant commitment by joining the Socialist Party in 1986, to which he remained faithful.
“I never had a career plan, but along the way we take responsibilities…”, modestly indicated the one who was also a municipal councilor in Nantes.
"Reconcile citizens and institutions"
During two terms (2007-2017), Michel Ménard was deputy for Loire-Atlantique, before being beaten in the legislative elections of 2017 by the presidential majority candidate, Sarah El Haïry, who has since become Secretary of State for Youth .
Now at the head of the departmental council, he will be keen to “reconcile citizens and institutions”, by setting up participatory budgets or the right to question.
His project is also social, with the creation of a “solidarity tariff in college canteens” and ecological, by “continuing to preserve agricultural land”.
Elections
Departmental in Loire-Atlantique: The left retains the majority, the right misses the mark
Politics
Departmental in Loire-Atlantique: Surprise!
President Philippe Grosvalet (PS) leaves political life
Departmental elections
Nantes
Socialist