Nathalie Arthaud

Nathalie Yvonne Thérèse Arthaud (French pronunciation: [natali ivɔn teʁɛz aʁto]; born 23 February 1970) is a French secondary school (lycée) economics teacher and politician. Since 2008, she has served as the spokesperson for the Lutte Ouvrière (Workers' Struggle), a communist party, and has stood for election under the party multiple times, beginning in 2001.

She was the party's candidate in the 2012, 2017 and 2022 presidential elections. She received 0.56, 0.64 an 0.57 percent of the votes cast and placed in ninth, tenth and twelfth place, respectively. A self-proclaimed communist, she focused her campaigns on workers' and economic issues; her platform included positions such as increasing the minimum wage, ending evictions and mass layoffs, and nationalizing French financial institutions. In 2019, Arthaud also headed the list of the Workers' Struggle nominees for European Parliament; the party received 0.78 percent of all votes cast.

Early life and career

Arthaud was born in 1970 in Peyrins, Drôme, France. Her father owned a garage. She first became interested in the Workers' Struggle party in the 1980s, while a high school student, and at the age of 18 formally joined the party. She first ran for elected office in 2001, in a municipal election in Vaulx-en-Velin, and later ran in legislative and regional elections. In 2008, Arthaud became the officially designated spokeswoman of the party.

Political campaigns

2012 presidential election

On 5 December 2010, Arthaud was designated candidate of Lutte Ouvrière in the presidential election of 2012. In the 22 April 2012 first-round election, she received 202,548 votes, 0.56 percent of all cast and placing ninth overall.