Christian Jacob (born 4 December 1959) is a French politician who was the president of the Republicans party from 2019 to 2022. Over the course of his career, he held several cabinet positions, including as the Minister of French Civil Service in Jacques Chirac's second term as President of France.

He served as the Member of the National Assembly for Seine-et-Marne's 4th constituency between 1995 and 2002, and then again between 2007 and 2022. He chose to not seek re-election in the 2022 French legislative election.

Early career A farmer, Jacob served in positions of responsibility in farm trade unions, local, départemental, regional then national. He was the President of the CNJA (Centre National des Jeunes Agriculteurs) from 1992 to 1994.

Political career Member of the European Parliament, 1994–1997 Jacob became a Member of the European Parliament in the 1994 elections. In parliament, he served on the Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development. In addition to his committee assignments, he was part of the parliament's delegation for relations with Ukraine, Belarus and Moldova.Christian Jacob European Parliament.

Career in government, 2002–2007 Following the 2002 elections, Jacob was appointed to the government of Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin. He first served as Minister Delegate in charge of the Family from 2002 until 2004. In 2004, he became Minister Delegate in charge of SMEs, Trade, Crafts, Liberal Professions and Consumer Affairs,Adam Jones (8 March 2005), France's new business buzz Financial Times. which later became a fully-fledged ministry. In 2005, in the government of Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin, he was appointed Minister for the Civil Service.

Member of the National Assembly, 2007–present

In parliament, Jacob served on the Committee on Economic Affairs (2007–2009); the Committee on Sustainable Development and Spatial Planning (2009–2010, 2012–2017); and the Committee on Defence (2010–2012).Christian Jacob French National Assembly.

When Jean-François Copé resigned from his position as chairman of the UMP group in the National Assembly to become the party's secretary general in late 2010, Jacob succeeded him after defeating Jean Leonetti.Christian Jacob élu président du groupe UMP à l'Assemblée Libération, 23 November 2010.

In 2011 Jacob caused controversy when he described Dominique Strauss-Kahn as an urban intellectual – a "bobo," short for "bourgeois-bohemian" – and said that Strauss-Kahn did not represent "the image of France, the image of rural France, the image of the France of terroirs and territories". Both French and foreign media interpreted this notion of rootless cosmopolitanism, of being out of touch with the soil and the mystery of "la France profonde," as an old trope for foreign and Jewish influence. In response, the president of the Representative Council of Jewish Institutions of France (CRIF), Richard Prasquier, called Jacob's comments "a very great clumsiness".Steven Erlanger (17 February 2011), One Prospect for President Isn't Talking, but France Is The New York Times.

In 2012, Jacob was re-elected in the first round with 117 votes, ahead of Xavier Bertrand (63 votes) and Hervé Gaymard (17 votes).Christian Jacob réélu président du groupe UMP de l'Assemblée dès le premier tour Le Monde, 20 June 2012. In the UMP's 2012 leadership primaries, he endorsed Copé.Copé, Fillon et l'UMP : qui soutient qui ? L'Obs, 17 October 2012.

Under Jacob's leadership, the UMP (and later LR) parliamentary group asked for several votes of no-confidence in the government of Prime Minister Manuel Valls in 2014,Emile Picy (16 September 2014), French PM Valls sees off revolt to win confidence vote Reuters. 2015Aurelien Breeden (19 February 2015), Government Survives Vote of Confidence in France The New York Times. and 2016.Brian Love (12 May 2016), French government shrugs off no-confidence vote, faces new strikes Reuters.

In the Republicans' 2016 presidential primaries, Jacob endorsed Nicolas Sarkozy as the party's candidate for the office of President of France;Primaire de la droite : Christian Jacob annonce son soutien à Nicolas Sarkozy Le Monde, 22 August 2016. the party's majority, however, voted for François Fillon to run in the 2017 presidential election. In March 2017, when the Fillon affair led several staff members to leave the presidential candidate's campaign team, Jacob was appointed campaign coordinator, in tandem with Bruno Retailleau.Fillon promeut Baroin, Jacob et Chatel dans son équipe Le Monde, 9 March 2017.

Following the legislative elections in June 2017, Jacob was re-elected chairman of the LR parliamentary group, in a vote against Damien Abad.Christian Jacob réélu président du groupe Les Républicains de l'Assemblée Nationale Europe 1, 21 June 2017. In addition, he has since been serving on the Defence Committee and the Committee on Sustainable Development and Spatial Planning again.Christian Jacob French National Assembly.

In the Republicans' 2017 leadership election, Jacob endorsed Laurent Wauquiez.Ludovic Vigogne (11 October 2017), La liste des 136 parrains de Laurent Wauquiez L'Opinion.

Under Jacob's leadership, the Republicans' parliamentary group asked for a vote of no-confidence in the government of Prime Minister Édouard Philippe over the Benalla affair in 2018.John Irish (24 July 2018), French opposition asks for no-confidence vote on Macron's government Reuters.Gabriela Galindo (24 July 2018), French conservatives push for no-confidence vote in Macron Politico Europe.

In October 2019, after Wauquiez's resignation and in the context of a series of electoral losses, Jacob emerged as a consensus candidate for the LR leadership.Rym Momtaz (26 June 2019), Sarko's back, playing it by the book Politico Europe.France's troubled conservatives elect new leader France 24, 13 October 2019. In an internal party vote, he won against Julien Aubert and Guillaume Larrivé.Aude Le Gentil (13 October 2019), Présidence des Républicains : le plus dur commence pour Christian Jacob, élu dès le premier tour Le Journal du Dimanche. Damien Abad succeeded him as leader of the LR parliamentary group.Ludovic Vigogne (Novembre 6, 2019), Couronnement: A l'Assemblée, Damien Abad devient le nouveau patron des députés LR L'Opinion. Under Jacob's leadership, LR won more than half of the country's small towns in the 2020 French municipal elections; at the same time, however, the party lost in larger cities it had held for decades, including Marseille and Bordeaux.Victor Mallet (1 July 2020), French centre-right faces identity crisis Financial Times.

By 2021, Jacob said he had "no ambition" to campaign for the 2022 French presidential election.Victor Mallet (1 July 2020), French centre-right faces identity crisis Financial Times. At the Republicans' national convention in December 2021, he chaired the 11-member committee which oversaw the party's selection of its candidate for the elections.Ludovic Vigogne (12 October 2021), Congrès LR: après le oui de Bertrand, les choses sérieuses commencent L'Opinion. Ahead of the Republicans' 2022 convention, he endorsed Éric Ciotti as the party's chairman.Eric Ciotti élu président du parti Les Républicains Le Monde, 11 December 2022.

Political positions Foreign policy When President François Hollande and the French government sought to bolster the case for military action against President Bashar al-Assad's government amid the Syrian civil war in 2013, Jacob held that an intervention "could only be justified in the framework of the United Nations" and expressed concern that France was out of step with its neighbours, including Germany.Scott Sayare (2 September 2013), French Release Intelligence Tying Assad Government to Chemical Weapons The New York Times.

In 2014, Jacob criticized the Socialist majority for backing France's recognition of the State of Palestine as a move to "add fuel to the fire in a region that doesn't need that at all."John Irish, Alexandria Sage and Ari Rabinovitch (2 December 2014), French parliament votes for recognition of Palestinian state Reuters.

Ahead of Hollande's 2015 visit to meet President Vladimir Putin in Moscow, Jacob called on him to push for an end to the European Union sanctions on Russia over the Russo-Ukrainian war.Emile Picy (24 November 2015), Main French opposition calls for end to EU embargo on Russia Reuters.

In July 2019, Jacob voted against the French ratification of the European Union's Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) with Canada.Maxime Vaudano (24 July 2019), CETA : qui a voté quoi parmi les députés Le Monde.

Domestic policy Amid a 2019 public debate in France about women wearing hijabs in public, Jacob demanded that clothing restrictions applied to teachers and students be extended to parents who sign up for class trips.Aurelien Breeden (19 October 2019), Another Hijab Furor Hits France, Over a Mother on a School Trip The New York Times. In an interview with Le Figaro newspaper, he said: "The veil should be banned on all school time. Not just on school premises".Emmanuel Galiero and Tristan Quinault-Maupoil (17 October 2019), Christian Jacob: "Nous devons parler de tous les sujets à tous les Français" Le Figaro.

Personal life Jacob has in the past touted his passion for hunting and featured in full hunting attire in Paris Match magazine in July 2020.Virginie Le Guay (25 July 2020), Christian Jacob, l'amour de la chasse Paris Match.Elisa Braun (31 August 2020), Macron's glue-hunting ban threatens France's powerful lobby Politico Europe.

See also French government ministers

References