David Lisnard, “a rising talent” from the right at the head of the Association of Mayors of France – LCI

For the first time in seven years, the 34,000 members of the Association of Mayors of France (AMF) had to choose between two lists to elect their new president. They decided to place their trust in David Lisnard, supported by his predecessor François Baroin and opposed to the UDI mayor of Sceaux Philippe Laurent. Mayor LR of Cannes obtained 6,913 votes out of 11,577 cast, the Electoral Commission said.

Was David Lisnard, 52, predestined to become president of this powerful association, of which he was already the vice-president and spokesperson? In any case, he started politics with the former RPR mayor of Lons-le-Saunier Jacques Pélissard, who chaired the association from 2004 to 2014 and with whom he cut his teeth as chief of staff between 1996 and 1999 Reelected in 2020 with 88% of the votes, he has been running Cannes since 2014, after having been its first deputy (2008-2014) and tourism deputy (2001-2008) in the team of Senator LR and former publicist Bernard Brochand.

The former spokesperson for François Fillon was very prominent during the health crisis, where from his city he was very active and showed many initiatives. He has continued to criticize the chain of changing health instructions, and when the vaccination started, he was controversial by anticipating government instructions to accelerate the movement in his city. So much so that he was tipped in the spring to be one of the possible contenders for the nomination of the right for the presidential election of 2022, on a liberal and conservative line.

This plea for a less omnipresent administration and refocused on its real missions, coupled with a modern image, an anti-immigration discourse and a praise of culture as a political axis to rebuild living together, has earned this father of three children new sympathies on the right and numerous media passages.

“He is a man who works and who reflects”, recognizes the Cannes Communist Dominique Henrot, who however criticizes him for being “a little sectarian” and to rely too much on luxury tourism. “He defends Cannes traders well, minus the unemployed”. Yet David Lisnard claims his modest origins.

Coming from a family from Cannes for four generations, his parents opened clothing stores after a career as a footballer for his father and a principal dancer for his mother. This punk fan and marathon runner took over these businesses in 1999. “I got involved in politics 30 years ago, in particular because as a small entrepreneur and trader, we were overwhelmed with burdens, and I took an oath with myself: not to increase the tax rates of my competence”, he emphasizes.

If the boss of senators LR Bruno Retailleau sees in him “a rising value to be reckoned with”, this party animal is not unanimous within his political family. Recently, the president of the PACA region Renaud Muselier called not to vote for him for the presidency of the AMF, accusing him “to be nestled in its Palais des Festivals” and not understanding the daily problems of mayors. He especially criticizes him for not having supported him against the RN in the last regional elections, when David Lisnard had indicated that he would not do so if he allied himself with the presidential majority.