Jean-Marc Ayrault Facts for Kids

Quick facts for kids Jean-Marc Ayrault
Ayrault in 2012

Prime Minister of France
In office 15 May 2012 – 31 March 2014
President	François Hollande
Preceded by	François Fillon
Succeeded by	Manuel Valls
Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Development
In office 11 February 2016 – 10 May 2017
Prime Minister	Manuel Valls Bernard Cazeneuve
Preceded by	Laurent Fabius
Succeeded by	Jean-Yves Le Drian (Europe and Foreign Affairs)
Leader of the socialist group in the National Assembly
In office 12 June 1997 – 19 June 2012
Preceded by	Laurent Fabius
Succeeded by	Bruno Le Roux
Mayor of Nantes
In office 20 March 1989 – 21 June 2012
Preceded by	Michel Chauty
Succeeded by	Patrick Rimbert
Mayor of Saint-Herblain
In office 14 March 1977 – 20 March 1989
Preceded by	Michel Chauty
Succeeded by	Charles Gautier
Member of the National Assembly for Loire-Atlantique's 3rd constituency
In office 1 May 2014 – 12 March 2016
Preceded by	Jean-Pierre Fougerat
Succeeded by	Karine Daniel
In office 23 June 1988 – 20 July 2012
Preceded by	proportional representation per department
Succeeded by	Jean-Pierre Fougerat
Member of the National Assembly for Loire-Atlantique
In office 2 April 1986 – 23 June 1988
Preceded by	Jean-Pierre Fougerat
Succeeded by	Jean-Pierre Fougerat

Personal details
Born	(1950-01-25) 25 January 1950 (age 75) Maulévrier, France
Political party	Socialist Party
Spouse	Brigitte Terrien (m. 1971)
Children	2
Alma mater	University of Nantes

Jean-Marc Ayrault (born 25 January 1950) is a French politician. He was the Prime Minister of France from 2012 to 2014. Later, he served as the Minister of Foreign Affairs from 2016 to 2017. Before these big roles, he was the Mayor of Nantes for many years, from 1989 to 2012. He also led the Socialist Party group in the National Assembly from 1997 to 2012.

Early Life and Education
Political Journey
Other Activities
Personal Life
Political Roles Summary
- Awards and Honours
  - French Honours
  - International Honours
See Also

Early Life and Education

Jean-Marc Ayrault was born in Maulévrier, a town in France. His father worked in a textile factory, and his mother was a seamstress.

He went to primary school in Maulévrier. Then, he attended high school in Cholet from 1961 to 1968. After high school, he studied German at the University of Nantes. He even spent a term studying in Germany at the University of Würzburg in 1969-1970. He earned his degree in German in 1971. In 1972, he got a teaching diploma. From 1973 until 1986, he worked as a German language teacher in Saint-Herblain.

Political Journey

Jean-Marc Ayrault became interested in politics when he was young. He joined the Socialist Party in 1971. This was after François Mitterrand became the party leader.

Early Political Roles

In 1976, he was elected to the General Council of Loire-Atlantique. The next year, in 1977, he became the Mayor of Saint-Herblain. He was only 27 years old, making him the youngest mayor of a French city with over 30,000 people. He left the General Council in 1982.

He joined the Socialist Party's national committee in 1979. In 1981, he became part of the party's executive team.

Serving in the National Assembly

In 1986, he was first elected to the National Assembly. This is like the parliament in France. He was re-elected many times after that.

In 1989, the Socialist Party chose him to run for mayor of Nantes. He won and became the mayor. He was re-elected in 1995, 2001, and 2008. He also led the Urban Community of Nantes Métropole from 2002. He was a very important local leader for the Socialist Party.

After the "Plural Left" won the 1997 election, Jean-Marc Ayrault was chosen to lead the Socialist group in the National Assembly. He held this important position for 15 years. He supported François Hollande when Hollande ran for president in 2011. When Hollande won the presidential election in 2012, he chose Ayrault to be the Prime Minister.

As Prime Minister of France

Ayrault with François Hollande in Nantes

Jean-Marc Ayrault became Prime Minister on 15 May 2012. He replaced François Fillon. The next day, he announced his team of ministers.

During his time as Prime Minister, Ayrault and his team introduced several new laws. These included:

Lowering the retirement age for some workers.
Cutting the salaries of ministers by up to 30%.
Increasing the minimum wage.
Freezing rent increases in some cities for 36 months.
Giving more help with energy costs to low-income families.
Increasing support for education for families with less money.
Creating a system to help young people (aged 16-25) find jobs.
Giving free health care to an extra 500,000 people.

Ayrault resigned on 31 March 2014. This was after the Socialist Party lost many local elections. Manuel Valls took over as Prime Minister.

As Minister of Foreign Affairs

In 2016, President Hollande appointed Ayrault as the Minister of Foreign Affairs. He took over from Laurent Fabius.

As foreign minister, he worked on important international matters. For example, in 2016, he was part of the signing ceremony for the Hinkley Point C nuclear power station. This was a large project involving France and China.

Other Activities

On 12 November 2023, Jean-Marc Ayrault took part in a march in Paris. This march was called the March for the Republic and Against Antisemitism. It was held to speak out against the increase in antisemitism since the Israel–Hamas war began.

Personal Life

In 2012, President Hollande made a list of all ministers' personal money and property public. Jean-Marc Ayrault stated that he had assets worth 1.5 million euros. He is married to Brigitte Terrien and they have two children.