Philippe de Villiers
Encyclopedia
Viscount
Philippe Le Jolis de Villiers de Saintignon, known as Philippe de Villiers, born on 25 March 1949, is a French politician. He was the Mouvement pour la France nominee for the French presidential election of 2007. He received 2.23% of the vote, putting him in sixth place. As only the top two candidates advance to the second round of voting, he was eliminated from the race. Before and after the election, Villiers has been internationally notable for his criticism of Islam in France
.
in the département of Vendée
, France, the second of five children and first son of Jacques Le Jolis de Villiers de Saintignon (born Meurthe-et-Moselle
, Nancy, 14 November 1913) and wife Edwige d' Arexy (born Loire Atlantique, Nantes
, 1 July 1925). His paternal grandfather, Louis Le Jolis de Villiers, born at Brucheville
on 17 October 1874, was killed in action
in World War I
at Saint-Paul-en-Forêt
on 10 September 1914, and married on 24 October 1904 Jeanne de Saintignon (Auverre, 27 July 1880 - 25 August 1959), by whom he had five children, the youngest of whom was Philippe's father Jacques.
He received a Master's Degree
in Law
in 1971, graduated from the Paris Institute of Political Studies in 1973, and graduated from the National School of Administration
in 1978. After university, Villiers became a successful entrepreneur
. He created Puy du Fou
, one of the most visited theme parks in France, as a living showcase for its history
. The theme park includes a replica medieval city with the 'Gallo-Roman Stadium', a coliseum designed by Villiers to stoke patriotic feeling by recreating Gallic rebellions against Imperial Rome.
He is a French
aristocrat
and a descendant of diplomat
and historian
Louis Philippe, comte de Ségur
and Minister
and Regent
Philippe II, Duke of Orléans
. As of 2007 he is a Member of the European Parliament
(Independence/Democracy Group
). He is 1.85 meters tall.
He is married to Dominique du Buor de Villeneuve, born at Valenciennes
on 4 October 1950, and has seven children: Caroline (born Montaigu
, 12 August 1976), Guillaume (born La Roche-sur-Yon
, 14 December 1977), Nicolas (born La Roche-sur-Yon, 10 September 1979), Marie (born Nantes, 5 October 1981), Laurent (born La Roche-sur-Yon, 8 April 1984), Bérengère (born La Roche-sur-Yon, 1 October 1988) and Blanche (born Cholet
, 21 June 1993).
From 1976 to 1978, Villiers served as a top civil servant in the Chirac administration. In 1981, he resigned his post as sub-prefect
because he did not want to serve the government of the Socialist
President François Mitterrand
. In 1986-1987, he briefly served as a junior Minister for Culture in the second government of Jacques Chirac
, under Minister François Léotard
. His appointment was initially viewed badly by Libération
and several other press agencies, which referred to his "ambiguous personality". However, Villers supported Leotard's mixed, non-ideological policy towards French culture.
In 1987, he was elected into local office as a member in Valéry Giscard d'Estaing
's Republican Party
. He became a rising star within the Union for French Democracy
. During the public debate over the Maastricht Treaty
, which established the European Union
, in 1992, he achieved lasting prominence in the media as an anti-Treaty activist. This set him apart from most prominent members of the mainstream political right. The French people narrowly ratified the Treaty
in September 1992.
Villiers led an anti-European integration list in 1994 receiving about 12 percent of the votes, placing it in third place behind the Gaullists and the Socialists. Villiers centered the campaign on opposition to the European Union
along with a call to eliminate corruption in government. In November 1994, Villers left the Republican Party to form Movement for France
. He ran for President of France in 1995 and received about 5 percent of the vote.
political party
, he now leads a party called the Mouvement pour la France, which has enjoyed some success in elections for the European Parliament
. The party's share of the vote in the European Parliament election, 2004
declined. Nevertheless, Villiers and two other members of his party were elected.
Villiers ran for the French presidency in 2007, and based his campaign on his opposition to what he sees as the rampant Islamisation of France. In May 2006, polls showed him enjoying the support of about 4% of the electorate, almost twice as high as he actually polled in the first round of the election. An "Ifop-Paris-Match" poll conducted on 12 October 2006 gave him his highest ever popularity rating, with 37% saying they "have an excellent or good opinion" of Villiers, and 28% saying they could vote for him in 2007. This was not borne out in the results of the first round of voting, with him receiving less than 3% of the popular vote.
Following the first round of the 2007 presidential election, he called on voters to vote for Union for a Popular Movement
(UMP) candidate Nicolas Sarkozy
to counter the Socialist Party
's candidate Ségolène Royal
and the left.
in France
. He has stated that "I am the only politician who tells the French the truth about the Islamization of France" and that "I do not think Islam is compatible with the French republic". Villiers advocates an end to all mosque
construction, banning all Islamist organizations suspected of links to terrorism, and expelling extremist individuals from France.
Villiers published Les mosquées de Roissy: nouvelles révélations sur l'islamisation en France (The Mosques of Roissy: New Revelations about Islamization in France) in 2006. He alleged that, using internal documents from whistleblowers, the Muslim Brotherhood
infiltrated security personnel at Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris. The book led to seventy-two employees having their clearances revoked. As well, makeshift Muslim prayer rooms were closed.
Villiers' views on Islam and Muslim immigrants have caused Der Spiegel
, The Wall Street Journal
, The Boston Globe
, and The San Francisco Chronicle to label him "far right
".
Villiers is a nationalist, a tradition
alist, and a leading eurosceptic
. He has self-described as a "rooted conservative". During his tenure under François Léotard
, he said that he shared Léotard's American-based
"libertarian liberalism". In 1995, The Economist
referred to him as "an ephemeral Catholic monarchist"
He advocates cutting taxes, expelling all illegal immigrants, and preventing Turkey from joining the EU
. He is a vocal critic of the European Union
's relationship with France, accusing it of "destroying their jobs, their security and their identity" and saying that "the Europe of Brussels is an anti-democratic dictatorship". He was a leader of the side advocating a 'No' vote in the 2005 French referendum of the European Constitution. The 'No' side won the vote, which the activists believed constituted a major victory for Euroscepticism in France. Villiers then launched a campaign to restore the franc
, remarking that "Everybody notes today that the adoption of the euro was a technical success but its economic, political and human toll is incontestable."
Villiers opposes immigration into France in general, but he has advocated that "individual cases be treated with the greatest humanity." He also opposes expelling current immigrants residing in France or subjecting them to discrimination in housing, employment, or other spheres. Despite their differences on these and other issues, the National Front's Jean Marie Le Pen has remarked that Villiers' ideas were "lifted" from him and that their "votes should be added together".
Villiers coined the phrase "Polish Plumber
" in a June 2005 political speech about the Bolkestein directive, referring to the perceived threat of cheap East European labour to French wages. The mythical figure became a central point of debate in France, and it later prompted an international controversy. He has also referred to the "Latvian mason" and the "Estonian gardener."
American author Harvey Gerald Simmons has compared the "Villiers phenomenon" to Ross Perot
's support in the 1992 American Presidential election
. He stated that Villiers has a populist
, anti-establishment
image that puts him on the edges of the mainstream political right of France rather than in the far right
.
Secretary of State for Communication : 1986-1987.
Electoral mandates
European Parliament
Member of European Parliament
: 1994-1997 (Resignation, reelected in the parliamentary elections in 1997) / July–December 1999 (Resignation) / Since 2004. Elected in 1994, reelected in 1999, 2004, 2009.
National Assembly of France
Member of the National Assembly of France for Vendée
: 1987-1994 (Became member of European Parliament
in 1994) / 1997-2004 (Became member of European Parliament in 2004). Elected in 1987, reelected in 1988, 1993, 1997, 2002.
General Council
President of the General Council of Vendée
: 1988-2010 (Resignation). Reelected in 1992, 1994, 1998, 2001, 2004, 2008.
General councillor of Vendée
: 1987-2010 (Resignation). Reelected in 1988, 1994, 2001, 2008.
Political function
President of the Movement for France
: 1994-1999 / Since 2000.
Viscount
A viscount or viscountess is a member of the European nobility whose comital title ranks usually, as in the British peerage, above a baron, below an earl or a count .-Etymology:...
Philippe Le Jolis de Villiers de Saintignon, known as Philippe de Villiers, born on 25 March 1949, is a French politician. He was the Mouvement pour la France nominee for the French presidential election of 2007. He received 2.23% of the vote, putting him in sixth place. As only the top two candidates advance to the second round of voting, he was eliminated from the race. Before and after the election, Villiers has been internationally notable for his criticism of Islam in France
Islam in France
Islam is the second most widely practiced religion in France by number of worshippers, with an estimated total of 5 to 10 percent of the national population.-Statistics:...
.
Personal life
Villiers was born in BoulogneBoulogne, Vendée
Boulogne is a commune in the Vendée department in the Pays de la Loire region in western France.-References:*...
in the département of Vendée
Vendée
The Vendée is a department in the Pays-de-la-Loire region in west central France, on the Atlantic Ocean. The name Vendée is taken from the Vendée river which runs through the south-eastern part of the department.-History:...
, France, the second of five children and first son of Jacques Le Jolis de Villiers de Saintignon (born Meurthe-et-Moselle
Meurthe-et-Moselle
Meurthe-et-Moselle is a department in the Lorraine region of France, named after the Meurthe and Moselle rivers.- History :Meurthe-et-Moselle was created in 1871 at the end of the Franco-Prussian War from the parts of the former departments of Moselle and Meurthe which remained French...
, Nancy, 14 November 1913) and wife Edwige d' Arexy (born Loire Atlantique, Nantes
Nantes
Nantes is a city in western France, located on the Loire River, from the Atlantic coast. The city is the 6th largest in France, while its metropolitan area ranks 8th with over 800,000 inhabitants....
, 1 July 1925). His paternal grandfather, Louis Le Jolis de Villiers, born at Brucheville
Brucheville
Brucheville is a commune in the Manche department in Normandy in north-western France.-World War II:After the liberation of the area by Allied Forces in 1944, engineers of the Ninth Air Force IX Engineering Command began construction of a combat Advanced Landing Ground outside of the town...
on 17 October 1874, was killed in action
Killed in action
Killed in action is a casualty classification generally used by militaries to describe the deaths of their own forces at the hands of hostile forces. The United States Department of Defense, for example, says that those declared KIA need not have fired their weapons but have been killed due to...
in World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
at Saint-Paul-en-Forêt
Saint-Paul-en-Forêt
Saint-Paul-en-Forêt is a commune in the Var department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region in southeastern France.-References:*...
on 10 September 1914, and married on 24 October 1904 Jeanne de Saintignon (Auverre, 27 July 1880 - 25 August 1959), by whom he had five children, the youngest of whom was Philippe's father Jacques.
He received a Master's Degree
Master's degree
A master's is an academic degree granted to individuals who have undergone study demonstrating a mastery or high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice...
in Law
Law
Law is a system of rules and guidelines which are enforced through social institutions to govern behavior, wherever possible. It shapes politics, economics and society in numerous ways and serves as a social mediator of relations between people. Contract law regulates everything from buying a bus...
in 1971, graduated from the Paris Institute of Political Studies in 1973, and graduated from the National School of Administration
National School of Administration
National School of Administration can refer to:*École nationale d'administration, Strasbourg, France*École nationale d'administration publique, Quebec City, Quebec, Canada*China National School of Administration, Beijing, China...
in 1978. After university, Villiers became a successful entrepreneur
Entrepreneur
An entrepreneur is an owner or manager of a business enterprise who makes money through risk and initiative.The term was originally a loanword from French and was first defined by the Irish-French economist Richard Cantillon. Entrepreneur in English is a term applied to a person who is willing to...
. He created Puy du Fou
Puy du Fou
Le Puy du Fou is a historical theme park in Les Epesses in the heart of the Vendée region of Western France...
, one of the most visited theme parks in France, as a living showcase for its history
History of France
The history of France goes back to the arrival of the earliest human being in what is now France. Members of the genus Homo entered the area hundreds of thousands years ago, while the first modern Homo sapiens, the Cro-Magnons, arrived around 40,000 years ago...
. The theme park includes a replica medieval city with the 'Gallo-Roman Stadium', a coliseum designed by Villiers to stoke patriotic feeling by recreating Gallic rebellions against Imperial Rome.
He is a French
French nobility
The French nobility was the privileged order of France in the Middle Ages and the Early Modern periods.In the political system of the Estates General, the nobility made up the Second Estate...
aristocrat
Aristocracy (class)
The aristocracy are people considered to be in the highest social class in a society which has or once had a political system of Aristocracy. Aristocrats possess hereditary titles granted by a monarch, which once granted them feudal or legal privileges, or deriving, as in Ancient Greece and India,...
and a descendant of diplomat
Diplomat
A diplomat is a person appointed by a state to conduct diplomacy with another state or international organization. The main functions of diplomats revolve around the representation and protection of the interests and nationals of the sending state, as well as the promotion of information and...
and historian
Historian
A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the study of all history in time. If the individual is...
Louis Philippe, comte de Ségur
Louis Philippe, comte de Ségur
Louis Philippe, comte de Ségur was a French diplomat and historian.-Life:He was born in Paris, the son of Philippe Henri, marquis de Ségur and Louise Anne Madeleine de Vernon....
and Minister
Minister (government)
A minister is a politician who holds significant public office in a national or regional government. Senior ministers are members of the cabinet....
and Regent
Regent
A regent, from the Latin regens "one who reigns", is a person selected to act as head of state because the ruler is a minor, not present, or debilitated. Currently there are only two ruling Regencies in the world, sovereign Liechtenstein and the Malaysian constitutive state of Terengganu...
Philippe II, Duke of Orléans
Philippe II, Duke of Orléans
Philippe d'Orléans was a member of the royal family of France and served as Regent of the Kingdom from 1715 to 1723. Born at his father's palace at Saint-Cloud, he was known from birth under the title of Duke of Chartres...
. As of 2007 he is a Member of the European Parliament
Member of the European Parliament
A Member of the European Parliament is a person who has been elected to the European Parliament. The name of MEPs differ in different languages, with terms such as europarliamentarian or eurodeputy being common in Romance language-speaking areas.When the European Parliament was first established,...
(Independence/Democracy Group
Independence and Democracy
The Independence/Democracy Group in the European Parliament was a group of eurosceptic and eurorealist political parties in the 2004-2009 term of the European Parliament. It collapsed following the 2009 European elections after losing many of its MEPs....
). He is 1.85 meters tall.
He is married to Dominique du Buor de Villeneuve, born at Valenciennes
Valenciennes
Valenciennes is a commune in the Nord department in northern France.It lies on the Scheldt river. Although the city and region had seen a steady decline between 1975 and 1990, it has since rebounded...
on 4 October 1950, and has seven children: Caroline (born Montaigu
Montaigu, Vendée
Montaigu is a commune in the Vendée department in the Pays de la Loire region in western France.-External links:***...
, 12 August 1976), Guillaume (born La Roche-sur-Yon
La Roche-sur-Yon
La Roche-sur-Yon is a commune in the Vendée department in the Pays de la Loire region in western France.It is the capital of the department. Its inhabitants are called Yonnais.-History:...
, 14 December 1977), Nicolas (born La Roche-sur-Yon, 10 September 1979), Marie (born Nantes, 5 October 1981), Laurent (born La Roche-sur-Yon, 8 April 1984), Bérengère (born La Roche-sur-Yon, 1 October 1988) and Blanche (born Cholet
Cholet
Cholet is a commune of western France in the Maine-et-Loire department. It was the capital of military Vendée.-Geography:Cholet stands on an eminence on the right bank of the Moine, which used to be crossed by a bridge from the fifteenth century...
, 21 June 1993).
Early career
Prefect
Prefect is a magisterial title of varying definition....
because he did not want to serve the government of the Socialist
Socialist Party (France)
The Socialist Party is a social-democratic political party in France and the largest party of the French centre-left. It is one of the two major contemporary political parties in France, along with the center-right Union for a Popular Movement...
President François Mitterrand
François Mitterrand
François Maurice Adrien Marie Mitterrand was the 21st President of the French Republic and ex officio Co-Prince of Andorra, serving from 1981 until 1995. He is the longest-serving President of France and, as leader of the Socialist Party, the only figure from the left so far elected President...
. In 1986-1987, he briefly served as a junior Minister for Culture in the second government of Jacques Chirac
Jacques Chirac
Jacques René Chirac is a French politician who served as President of France from 1995 to 2007. He previously served as Prime Minister of France from 1974 to 1976 and from 1986 to 1988 , and as Mayor of Paris from 1977 to 1995.After completing his studies of the DEA's degree at the...
, under Minister François Léotard
François Léotard
François Gerard Marie Léotard is a retired French politician. The late singer and actor Philippe Léotard was his brother....
. His appointment was initially viewed badly by Libération
Libération
Libération is a French daily newspaper founded in Paris by Jean-Paul Sartre and Serge July in 1973 in the wake of the protest movements of May 1968. Originally a leftist newspaper, it has undergone a number of shifts during the 1980s and 1990s...
and several other press agencies, which referred to his "ambiguous personality". However, Villers supported Leotard's mixed, non-ideological policy towards French culture.
In 1987, he was elected into local office as a member in Valéry Giscard d'Estaing
Valéry Giscard d'Estaing
Valéry Marie René Georges Giscard d'Estaing is a French centre-right politician who was President of the French Republic from 1974 until 1981...
's Republican Party
Independent Republicans
The Independent Republicans were a French liberal-conservative political group founded in 1962, which became a political party in 1966 . The leader was Valéry Giscard d'Estaing....
. He became a rising star within the Union for French Democracy
Union for French Democracy
The Union for French Democracy was a French centrist political party. It was founded in 1978 as an electoral alliance to support President Valéry Giscard d'Estaing in order to counterbalance the Gaullist preponderance over the right. This name was chosen due to the title of Giscard d'Estaing's...
. During the public debate over the Maastricht Treaty
Maastricht Treaty
The Maastricht Treaty was signed on 7 February 1992 by the members of the European Community in Maastricht, Netherlands. On 9–10 December 1991, the same city hosted the European Council which drafted the treaty...
, which established the European Union
European Union
The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...
, in 1992, he achieved lasting prominence in the media as an anti-Treaty activist. This set him apart from most prominent members of the mainstream political right. The French people narrowly ratified the Treaty
French Maastricht Treaty referendum, 1992
A referendum on the Maastricht Treaty was held in France on 20 September 1992. It was approved by just over 51% of the voters. The result of the referendum, known as the "petit oui", along with the Danish "No" vote are considered to be signals of the end of the "permissive consensus" on European...
in September 1992.
Villiers led an anti-European integration list in 1994 receiving about 12 percent of the votes, placing it in third place behind the Gaullists and the Socialists. Villiers centered the campaign on opposition to the European Union
European Union
The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...
along with a call to eliminate corruption in government. In November 1994, Villers left the Republican Party to form Movement for France
Movement for France
The Movement for France , abbreviated to MPF, is a French conservative and eurosceptic political party, founded on 20 November 1994, with a marked regional stronghold in the Vendée. It is led by Philippe de Villiers, once communications minister under Jacques Chirac.The party is considered...
. He ran for President of France in 1995 and received about 5 percent of the vote.
Recent career and 2007 presidential bid
Once a member of the Union for French DemocracyUnion for French Democracy
The Union for French Democracy was a French centrist political party. It was founded in 1978 as an electoral alliance to support President Valéry Giscard d'Estaing in order to counterbalance the Gaullist preponderance over the right. This name was chosen due to the title of Giscard d'Estaing's...
political party
Political party
A political party is a political organization that typically seeks to influence government policy, usually by nominating their own candidates and trying to seat them in political office. Parties participate in electoral campaigns, educational outreach or protest actions...
, he now leads a party called the Mouvement pour la France, which has enjoyed some success in elections for the European Parliament
European Parliament
The European Parliament is the directly elected parliamentary institution of the European Union . Together with the Council of the European Union and the Commission, it exercises the legislative function of the EU and it has been described as one of the most powerful legislatures in the world...
. The party's share of the vote in the European Parliament election, 2004
European Parliament election, 2004
Elections to the European Parliament were held from 10 June 2004 to 13 June 2004 in the 25 member states of the European Union, using varying election days according to local custom...
declined. Nevertheless, Villiers and two other members of his party were elected.
Villiers ran for the French presidency in 2007, and based his campaign on his opposition to what he sees as the rampant Islamisation of France. In May 2006, polls showed him enjoying the support of about 4% of the electorate, almost twice as high as he actually polled in the first round of the election. An "Ifop-Paris-Match" poll conducted on 12 October 2006 gave him his highest ever popularity rating, with 37% saying they "have an excellent or good opinion" of Villiers, and 28% saying they could vote for him in 2007. This was not borne out in the results of the first round of voting, with him receiving less than 3% of the popular vote.
Following the first round of the 2007 presidential election, he called on voters to vote for Union for a Popular Movement
Union for a Popular Movement
The Union for a Popular Movement is a centre-right political party in France, and one of the two major contemporary political parties in the country along with the center-left Socialist Party...
(UMP) candidate Nicolas Sarkozy
Nicolas Sarkozy
Nicolas Sarkozy is the 23rd and current President of the French Republic and ex officio Co-Prince of Andorra. He assumed the office on 16 May 2007 after defeating the Socialist Party candidate Ségolène Royal 10 days earlier....
to counter the Socialist Party
Socialist Party (France)
The Socialist Party is a social-democratic political party in France and the largest party of the French centre-left. It is one of the two major contemporary political parties in France, along with the center-right Union for a Popular Movement...
's candidate Ségolène Royal
Ségolène Royal
Marie-Ségolène Royal , known as Ségolène Royal, is a French politician. She is the president of the Poitou-Charentes Regional Council, a former member of the National Assembly, a former government minister, and a prominent member of the French Socialist Party...
and the left.
Criticism of Islam
Villiers is internationally notable for his criticism of IslamCriticism of Islam
Criticism of Islam has existed since Islam's formative stages. Early written criticism came from Christians, prior to the ninth century, many of whom viewed Islam as a radical Christian heresy...
in France
Islam in France
Islam is the second most widely practiced religion in France by number of worshippers, with an estimated total of 5 to 10 percent of the national population.-Statistics:...
. He has stated that "I am the only politician who tells the French the truth about the Islamization of France" and that "I do not think Islam is compatible with the French republic". Villiers advocates an end to all mosque
Mosque
A mosque is a place of worship for followers of Islam. The word is likely to have entered the English language through French , from Portuguese , from Spanish , and from Berber , ultimately originating in — . The Arabic word masjid literally means a place of prostration...
construction, banning all Islamist organizations suspected of links to terrorism, and expelling extremist individuals from France.
Villiers published Les mosquées de Roissy: nouvelles révélations sur l'islamisation en France (The Mosques of Roissy: New Revelations about Islamization in France) in 2006. He alleged that, using internal documents from whistleblowers, the Muslim Brotherhood
Muslim Brotherhood
The Society of the Muslim Brothers is the world's oldest and one of the largest Islamist parties, and is the largest political opposition organization in many Arab states. It was founded in 1928 in Egypt by the Islamic scholar and schoolteacher Hassan al-Banna and by the late 1940s had an...
infiltrated security personnel at Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris. The book led to seventy-two employees having their clearances revoked. As well, makeshift Muslim prayer rooms were closed.
Villiers' views on Islam and Muslim immigrants have caused Der Spiegel
Der Spiegel
Der Spiegel is a German weekly news magazine published in Hamburg. It is one of Europe's largest publications of its kind, with a weekly circulation of more than one million.-Overview:...
, The Wall Street Journal
The Wall Street Journal
The Wall Street Journal is an American English-language international daily newspaper. It is published in New York City by Dow Jones & Company, a division of News Corporation, along with the Asian and European editions of the Journal....
, The Boston Globe
The Boston Globe
The Boston Globe is an American daily newspaper based in Boston, Massachusetts. The Boston Globe has been owned by The New York Times Company since 1993...
, and The San Francisco Chronicle to label him "far right
Far right
Far-right, extreme right, hard right, radical right, and ultra-right are terms used to discuss the qualitative or quantitative position a group or person occupies within right-wing politics. Far-right politics may involve anti-immigration and anti-integration stances towards groups that are...
".
Political philosophy
Tradition
A tradition is a ritual, belief or object passed down within a society, still maintained in the present, with origins in the past. Common examples include holidays or impractical but socially meaningful clothes , but the idea has also been applied to social norms such as greetings...
alist, and a leading eurosceptic
Euroscepticism
Euroscepticism is a general term used to describe criticism of the European Union , and opposition to the process of European integration, existing throughout the political spectrum. Traditionally, the main source of euroscepticism has been the notion that integration weakens the nation state...
. He has self-described as a "rooted conservative". During his tenure under François Léotard
François Léotard
François Gerard Marie Léotard is a retired French politician. The late singer and actor Philippe Léotard was his brother....
, he said that he shared Léotard's American-based
Politics of the United States
The United States is a federal constitutional republic, in which the President of the United States , Congress, and judiciary share powers reserved to the national government, and the federal government shares sovereignty with the state governments.The executive branch is headed by the President...
"libertarian liberalism". In 1995, The Economist
The Economist
The Economist is an English-language weekly news and international affairs publication owned by The Economist Newspaper Ltd. and edited in offices in the City of Westminster, London, England. Continuous publication began under founder James Wilson in September 1843...
referred to him as "an ephemeral Catholic monarchist"
He advocates cutting taxes, expelling all illegal immigrants, and preventing Turkey from joining the EU
Accession of Turkey to the European Union
Turkey's application to accede to the European Union was made on 14 April 1987. Turkey has been an associate member of the European Union and its predecessors since 1963...
. He is a vocal critic of the European Union
European Union
The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...
's relationship with France, accusing it of "destroying their jobs, their security and their identity" and saying that "the Europe of Brussels is an anti-democratic dictatorship". He was a leader of the side advocating a 'No' vote in the 2005 French referendum of the European Constitution. The 'No' side won the vote, which the activists believed constituted a major victory for Euroscepticism in France. Villiers then launched a campaign to restore the franc
French franc
The franc was a currency of France. Along with the Spanish peseta, it was also a de facto currency used in Andorra . Between 1360 and 1641, it was the name of coins worth 1 livre tournois and it remained in common parlance as a term for this amount of money...
, remarking that "Everybody notes today that the adoption of the euro was a technical success but its economic, political and human toll is incontestable."
Villiers opposes immigration into France in general, but he has advocated that "individual cases be treated with the greatest humanity." He also opposes expelling current immigrants residing in France or subjecting them to discrimination in housing, employment, or other spheres. Despite their differences on these and other issues, the National Front's Jean Marie Le Pen has remarked that Villiers' ideas were "lifted" from him and that their "votes should be added together".
Villiers coined the phrase "Polish Plumber
Polish Plumber
Polish Plumber was a phrase first used by Philippe Val in Charlie Hebdo and popularised by Philippe de Villiers as a symbol of cheap labour coming in from Central Europe as a result of the Directive on services in the internal market during the EU Constitution referendum in France in 2005.The...
" in a June 2005 political speech about the Bolkestein directive, referring to the perceived threat of cheap East European labour to French wages. The mythical figure became a central point of debate in France, and it later prompted an international controversy. He has also referred to the "Latvian mason" and the "Estonian gardener."
American author Harvey Gerald Simmons has compared the "Villiers phenomenon" to Ross Perot
Ross Perot
Henry Ross Perot is a U.S. businessman best known for running for President of the United States in 1992 and 1996. Perot founded Electronic Data Systems in 1962, sold the company to General Motors in 1984, and founded Perot Systems in 1988...
's support in the 1992 American Presidential election
United States presidential election, 1992
The United States presidential election of 1992 had three major candidates: Incumbent Republican President George Bush; Democratic Arkansas Governor Bill Clinton, and independent Texas businessman Ross Perot....
. He stated that Villiers has a populist
Populism
Populism can be defined as an ideology, political philosophy, or type of discourse. Generally, a common theme compares "the people" against "the elite", and urges social and political system changes. It can also be defined as a rhetorical style employed by members of various political or social...
, anti-establishment
Anti-establishment
An anti-establishment view or belief is one which stands in opposition to the conventional social, political, and economic principles of a society. The term was first used in the modern sense in 1958, by the British magazine New Statesman to refer to its political and social agenda...
image that puts him on the edges of the mainstream political right of France rather than in the far right
Far right
Far-right, extreme right, hard right, radical right, and ultra-right are terms used to discuss the qualitative or quantitative position a group or person occupies within right-wing politics. Far-right politics may involve anti-immigration and anti-integration stances towards groups that are...
.
Support base
Villiers gathers his support from among practicing Roman Catholics, artisans, retired people, farmers, and small business owners.Quotations
«The sole reasonable economic policy is the following: as for the foreign, to protect, and interior, set free. The unequal competition and suffocation by the taxes and charges are two faces of the same crisis. The socialism à la French and the Brussels globalisation combine their devastating effects. » - Philippe de Villiers - Le Figaro, February 16, 2006 (regarding Bolkestein Directive)Political career
Governmental functionSecretary of State for Communication : 1986-1987.
Electoral mandates
European Parliament
Member of European Parliament
European Parliament
The European Parliament is the directly elected parliamentary institution of the European Union . Together with the Council of the European Union and the Commission, it exercises the legislative function of the EU and it has been described as one of the most powerful legislatures in the world...
: 1994-1997 (Resignation, reelected in the parliamentary elections in 1997) / July–December 1999 (Resignation) / Since 2004. Elected in 1994, reelected in 1999, 2004, 2009.
National Assembly of France
Member of the National Assembly of France for Vendée
Vendée
The Vendée is a department in the Pays-de-la-Loire region in west central France, on the Atlantic Ocean. The name Vendée is taken from the Vendée river which runs through the south-eastern part of the department.-History:...
: 1987-1994 (Became member of European Parliament
European Parliament
The European Parliament is the directly elected parliamentary institution of the European Union . Together with the Council of the European Union and the Commission, it exercises the legislative function of the EU and it has been described as one of the most powerful legislatures in the world...
in 1994) / 1997-2004 (Became member of European Parliament in 2004). Elected in 1987, reelected in 1988, 1993, 1997, 2002.
General Council
President of the General Council of Vendée
Vendée
The Vendée is a department in the Pays-de-la-Loire region in west central France, on the Atlantic Ocean. The name Vendée is taken from the Vendée river which runs through the south-eastern part of the department.-History:...
: 1988-2010 (Resignation). Reelected in 1992, 1994, 1998, 2001, 2004, 2008.
General councillor of Vendée
Vendée
The Vendée is a department in the Pays-de-la-Loire region in west central France, on the Atlantic Ocean. The name Vendée is taken from the Vendée river which runs through the south-eastern part of the department.-History:...
: 1987-2010 (Resignation). Reelected in 1988, 1994, 2001, 2008.
Political function
President of the Movement for France
Movement for France
The Movement for France , abbreviated to MPF, is a French conservative and eurosceptic political party, founded on 20 November 1994, with a marked regional stronghold in the Vendée. It is led by Philippe de Villiers, once communications minister under Jacques Chirac.The party is considered...
: 1994-1999 / Since 2000.
External links
MPF official web site- French Wikipedia Entry