François de Rugy

François Henri Goullet de Rugy (French pronunciation: [fʁɑ̃swa ɑ̃ʁi ɡulɛ də ʁyʒi]; born 6 December 1973) is a French politician who served as President of the National Assembly from 2017 to 2018 and Minister of Ecological and Solidary Transition from 2018 to 2019.

From 2007, De Rugy represented the Loire-Atlantique department, with an interruption between 2018 and 2019, originally as a member of the Democratic and Republican Left group, which includes his former political party Europe Ecology – The Greens. In 2015, he joined the Ecologist Party and later the La République En Marche group in Parliament. In 2017, he defeated Jean-Charles Taugourdeau and Laure de la Raudière for the presidency of the National Assembly.

He was appointed Minister of Ecological and Solidary Transition after the resignation of Nicolas Hulot. De Rugy resigned from his ministership less than a year following his appointment after allegations of excessive spending of public funds for private use. He regained his seat in Parliament.

De Rugy did not seek re-election at the 2022 parliamentary election.

Political career

Member of the National Assembly

First elected to the National Assembly in the 2007 legislative election, he was reelected in 2012. In 2012, he was elected to the co-presidency of the newly founded Ecologist group, alongside Barbara Pompili. In 2015, he broke with Europe Ecology – The Greens to form a new party with Jean-Vincent Placé, the Ecologist Party, which supported the administration of President François Hollande. He was succeeded as group co-president by Cécile Duflot before regaining the office following the Pompili's appointment as Secretary of State for Biodiversity.