Cazeneuve, Bernard (1963-…), was prime minister of the European country of France from December 2016 to May 2017. A member of France’s liberal Socialist Party, Cazeneuve replaced Prime Minister Manuel Valls, who resigned to run for president in 2017. Valls’s resignation followed President François Hollande ’s decision not to seek a second term in office. Before becoming prime minister, Cazeneuve served as mayor of the city of Cherbourg-Octeville in northwestern France and had led various government ministries since 2012.
Bernard Cazeneuve was born on June 2, 1963, in Senlis, a small city in the Oise department (administrative district) in northern France. His father was head of the Socialist Party in Oise. Cazeneuve studied law at the Institut d’études politiques de Bordeaux . After graduation, he worked briefly as a legal adviser before starting a political career in 1991.
In 1994, Cazeneuve moved to the northwestern city of Octeville in the Manche department of Lower Normandy . He was elected to the departmental council, and in 1995, he was elected mayor of Octeville. In 1997, Cazeneuve was elected to the National Assembly, where he successfully petitioned for the merger of Octeville with the neighboring port city of Cherbourg in 2000. In 2001, Cazeneuve became mayor of Cherbourg-Octeville. In 2002, he lost his bid for reelection to the National Assembly.
Cazeneuve was elected vice president of the Lower Normandy regional council in 2004. In 2007, he was again elected to the National Assembly. In 2012, Cazeneuve ended his term as mayor of Cherbourg-Octeville and began a series of ministerial Cabinet positions under Socialist Party Prime Ministers Jean-Marc Ayrault and Manuel Valls. Cazeneuve served as interior minister from April 2014 until his appointment as prime minister on Dec. 6, 2016.
