2007 Timeline

French presidential elections and other May 2007 events

Nikolas Sarkozy won the second round of the French Presidential elections against the candidate of Socialist Party Ségolène Royal on May 6, 2006. Sarkozy began his political career in 1977 when he became a city councillor in Neuilly-sur-Seine. From 1983 to 2002 he served as Mayor of Neuilly-sur-Seine. Sarkozy was elected deputy in the National Assembly in 1988 and was Minister for the Budget and spokesman for the executive in the cabinet of Prime Minister Édouard Balladur from 1993 to 1995. For his support to Édouard Balladur at the French Presidential elections of 1995 he lost his position as Minister for the Budget but he was re-elected as deputy in the French Parliamentary elections in 1997. In 1999 Sarkozy became the leader of the Neo-Gaullist (RPR) party but lost the RPR leadership after the bad results at the 1999 European Parliament election. However, in 2002 he was appointed French Minister of the Interior in the cabinet of Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin and served the office until 2004 when he became the Finance Minister. Sarkozy was also elected leader of the Union pour un Mouvement Populaire (UMP) in the same year and in accordance with an agreement with Chirac he resigned as minister. However, he was reappointed Minister of the Interior in the government of Dominique de Villepin after the French Parliamentary elections in 2005. He served as Minister of Interior until March 28, 2007, when he resigned to focus on presidential campaign.