Karine Claireaux (born 15 November 1963) is a French politician from Saint Pierre and Miquelon. She was mayor of Saint-Pierre from 2001 to 2020 and a member of the Senate of France for Saint Pierre and Miquelon from 2011 to 2017. She is the founder of the political group .
Career Claireaux was a customs officer from 1981 until 2000.
Her work in politics began in 1983 when she joined the municipal council of Saint-Pierre. She was deputy mayor of Saint-Pierre from 1989 to 2001, when she became mayor.
From 2000 to 2006, she was vice-president of the Territorial Council of Saint Pierre and Miquelon. In 2006, she founded the political group . She was also elected chair of the in 2014; she was re-elected in 2016 and was succeeded in 2021 by Sophie Panonacle.
On 25 September 2011, she was elected senator by the electors of Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the first round. She was part of the Socialist Party from 2011 to 2017, when she joined the Rally of Democrats, Progressive and Independent group. She was defeated in the 2017 senatorial elections by Stéphane Artano.
Claireaux was not re-elected in the Saint-Pierre municipal elections in 2020, and she was succeeded by Yannick Cambray of the list after 19 years in office.
Political views Claireaux identifies as left-wing.
She supported merging the communes of Saint-Pierre and Miquelon-Langlade into one entity, and expressed regret she had not achieved this in her work as mayor. In an interview with the CBC on the occasion of the 2017 French presidential election, she expressed strong opposition to presidential candidate Marine Le Pen, stating she would "bring nothing to the territory", and criticised those who cast blank votes.
References
Bibliography Page on the French Senate website