Bruno Mégret facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Bruno Mégret
Member of the European Parliament
In office 1989–1999
Constituency	France
Member of the National Assembly
In office 1986–1988
Constituency	Isère
Personal details
Born	(1949-04-04) 4 April 1949 (age 76) Paris
Nationality	French
Political party	MNR (1998–present)
Other political affiliations	FN (1988–1998) CAR (1982–1988) RPR (1976–1982)

Bruno Mégret (born 4 April 1949) is a French politician who is now retired. He used to lead a political group called the Mouvement National Républicain. He stopped all political work in 2008.

Early Life and Education

Bruno Mégret was born in Paris, France. He went to two important schools in France: the École Polytechnique and the École Nationale des Ponts et Chaussées. He became a senior civil servant, which means he worked for the government.

He also earned a Master's degree from the University of California, Berkeley in the United States. After his studies, he worked for the French Ministry of Equipment. He is also a reserve army captain.

Starting in Politics

In 1975, Bruno Mégret joined a group called the Club de l'Horloge. Here, he met other people who shared his ideas. He started working as an engineer in 1977.

Later, he became an advisor to a government minister. He also joined a conservative political party called Rassemblement pour la République (RPR). In 1981, he ran for election but did not win.

After this, he felt the RPR was not strong enough. So, he created his own group, the Comités d'Action Républicaine (CAR). However, another party, the Front National, became very popular. This made it hard for his new group to succeed.

Joining the National Front

In 1985, Bruno Mégret joined the National Front (FN). This was a nationalist political party led by Jean-Marie Le Pen. In 1986, Mégret was elected to the French National Assembly. He represented the area of Isère.

He quickly became a very important person in the party. He helped with Le Pen's election campaign in 1987. He then became the second-in-command of the party.

Bruno Mégret in 2007

From 1989 to 1999, Bruno Mégret was a member of the European Parliament for the FN. During this time, he set up different groups. These groups helped to share the ideas of the National Front. His friends from the Club de l'Horloge also got important jobs in the party.

Differences and New Party

Over time, Bruno Mégret and Jean-Marie Le Pen started to disagree. Mégret and others felt that Le Pen's strong views were stopping the party from gaining more power. Mégret was also becoming very popular with the party members.

In 1997, Bruno Mégret's wife, Catherine Mégret, was elected mayor of Vitrolles. Bruno Mégret also worked on a plan to create new unions and groups linked to the National Front. This was a new approach for the party.

In 1998, Bruno Mégret decided to leave the Front National. He then started his own political party. It was called the Mouvement National Républicain (MNR).

He ran for president in the 2002 French presidential election. He received a small percentage of the votes. He supported Jean-Marie Le Pen in the second round of that election. He also supported Le Pen in the 2007 French presidential election.

In 2008, Bruno Mégret left politics. This happened after he was found to have used public money improperly. He had used funds from the town of Vitrolles to help his 2002 presidential campaign.

In 2022, he supported Éric Zemmour for president. He felt that Zemmour represented the right path for his ideas. He also said that Marine Le Pen, who now leads the National Front, had made the party too soft.

Political Roles

Bruno Mégret held several important political positions:

• He was a member of the National Assembly of France for Isère from 1986 to 1988.
• He was a member of the European Parliament from 1989 to 1999.
• He was a regional councillor for Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur from 1992 to 2001.
• He was a city councillor for Marseille from 2002 to 2008.
• He was the President of the National Republican Movement from 1998 to 2008.