Marie-Luce Penchard (born 14 February 1959, in Gourbeyre) is a French politician from Guadeloupe and member of the UMP. She is the daughter of Lucette Michaux-Chevry, the historical leader of the right in Guadeloupe and the former President of the Regional Council of Guadeloupe from 1992 until 2004. [1] [2]
In 2009, the UMP selected her to lead their list in the DOM-TOM constituency ahead of the 2009 European elections. Despite her list being entitled to one seat, she was not elected due to a provision in the electoral law which splits the constituency into three sub-constituencies. As a result, she was not entitled to a seat in the Atlantic subsection, but Maurice Ponga won the seat in the Pacific subsection.
She was named Secretary of State for Overseas Territories in the François Fillon government on 23 June 2009, becoming a minister in November that year. [1] The nomination of a Guadeloupe native to this position is important since Guadeloupe was the epicentre of the 2009 French Caribbean general strikes.
She is mayor of Basse-Terre, the prefecture of Guadeloupe, since May 2014. [3]
Governmental functions
Secretary of State for Overseas : June–November 2009.
Minister in charge of Overseas : 2009–2012.
Electoral mandate
Regional Council
Regional councillor of Guadeloupe : Since 2010.
Guadeloupe is an overseas department and region of France in the Caribbean. It consists of six inhabited islands—Basse-Terre, Grande-Terre, Marie-Galante, La Désirade, and two Îles des Saintes—as well as many uninhabited islands and outcroppings. It is south of Antigua and Barbuda and Montserrat and north of Dominica. The capital city is Basse-Terre, on the southern west coast of Basse-Terre Island; the most populous city is Les Abymes and the main centre of business is neighbouring Pointe-à-Pitre, both on Grande-Terre Island. It had a population of 395,726 in 2024.
Basse-Terre is a commune in the French overseas department of Guadeloupe, in the Lesser Antilles. It is also the prefecture of Guadeloupe. The city of Basse-Terre is located on Basse-Terre Island, the western half of Guadeloupe.
Lucette Michaux-Chevry was a French politician, who served as President of the Regional Council of the overseas department of Guadeloupe between 1992 and 2004. She was nicknamed the "Iron Lady of the Caribbean." because she was "for a long time the strong woman of the department."
Michèle Yvette Marie-Thérèse Jeanne Honorine Alliot-Marie, known in France as MAM, is a French politician and Member of the European Parliament (MEP) from France. She is a member of the Republicans, part of the European People's Party. A member of all right-wing governments formed in the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s, she was the first woman in France to hold the portfolios of Defense (2002–2007), the Interior (2007–2009) and Foreign Affairs (2010–2011); she has also been in charge of Youth and Sports (1993–1995) and Justice (2009–2010), and was granted the honorary rank of Minister of State in her last two offices.
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Gourbeyre is a commune in the French overseas region and department of Guadeloupe, in the Lesser Antilles. It is a suburb of the city of Basse-Terre.
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The dependencies of Guadeloupe are three islands or island groups in the Leeward Islands chain which are administratively part of the neighboring French overseas department of Guadeloupe in the French Lesser Antilles. They are nearby island entities to the south and east of Guadeloupe island. Saint-Barthélemy and the French side of Saint-Martin were dependencies of Guadeloupe before they became autonomous. There are now three dependencies:
The canton of Basse-Terre is an administrative division of Guadeloupe, an overseas department and region of France. It was created at the French canton reorganisation which came into effect in March 2015. Its seat is in Basse-Terre.
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