Géraldine Bannier

Géraldine Bannier (French pronunciation: [ʒeʁaldin banje]; born 22 November 1979) is a French teacher and politician who has served as Member of the National Assembly for Mayenne's 2nd constituency since 2017. She is a member of the Democratic Movement (MoDem).^[1]

Géraldine Bannier joined the Democratic Movement (MoDem) in 2007 and was soon elected to the party's national council. She was Jean-Noël Martin's designated substitute in his unsuccessful campaign to represent the Canton of Saint-Berthevin in the 2011 cantonal elections, with their ticket winning 7.48% of the vote.^[2] Three years later, in the 2014 French municipal elections, Bannier was elected mayor of Courbeveille as part of a nonpartisan electoral list.^[3]

As a rare example of a successful MoDem politician in Mayenne, Bannier was placed sixth in a Republican-Democratic and Independent-MoDem list led by Yannick Favennec in the department for the 2015 French regional elections in Pays de la Loire. The first candidate on the list was Bruno Retailleau.^[4]

During the 2017 French legislative elections, Bannier was the candidate of the electoral alliance between MoDem and La République En Marche (LREM) in Mayenne's 2nd constituency.^[5] She led in the first round with 38% of the vote and won the second round with 55% of the vote against incumbent Guillaume Chevrollier of The Republicans (LR). As a result, Bannier became the first female deputy to be elected in Mayenne.^[6][7]

Due to the law on the accumulation of electoral mandates, Bannier resigned from the office of mayor of Courbeveille on 1 September 2017.^[8]

In the National Assembly, Bannier serves on the Committee on Economic Affairs and the Committee on Cultural Affairs and Education.^[9] She has notably agitated for the revaluation of pensions for farmers and their spouses and also voted for the reintroduction of neonicotinoid insecticides.^[10][11][12]

In 2018, Bannier became the vice-president of the parliamentary commission investigating the Lactalis affair, where the eponymous company's baby formula was found to be contaminated with Salmonella.^[13]

In 2019, Bannier broke ranks with her government and parliamentary group by voting against the ratification of the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) free trade agreement.^[14]

In 2020, Bannier abstained in a vote on the Global Security Law during its first reading but ultimately voted in favour of the law in April 2021.^[15][16]

Bannier also served as the spokesperson for a bill aiming to impose a minimum fee for book deliveries.^[17]

Bannier was re-nominated by the governing coalition, now known as Ensemble, for the 2022 French legislative elections.^[18][19] She was nevertheless opposed by Christophe Langouët, the mayor of Cossé-le-Vivien, who also declared his support for the presidential majority.^[20] Bannier was ultimately re-elected to the National Assembly with nearly 59% of the vote in the second round against the New Ecological and Social People's Union's Grégory Boisseau, who received 41%.^[21]

Bannier is the daughter of farmers from Astillé. She is unmarried and has no children. In her professional life, Bannier is an associate professor of classics.^[22]