Antoine Rufenacht [SEP] native language
Antoine Rufenacht
Antoine Rufenacht (born 11 May 1939 in Le Havre) is a French right-wing (The Republicans) politician and former mayor of Le Havre.
He took the mayoral seat from Daniel Colliard (PCF) at the municipal election of 1995 and was reelected both in 2001, with a comfortable majority, and in 2008, against Daniel Paul (also PCF). He was also president of the local city community (called "Communauté d'Agglomération Havraise" - CODAH) which groups several municipalities around Le Havre
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In 2001, Philippe joined Antoine Rufenacht as Deputy Mayor of Le Havre charged with legal affairs; Rufenacht served as mayor of Le Havre from 1995 to 2010 and campaign director for Jacques Chirac in the 2002 presidential election. Recognising the ideological proximity between Michel Rocard and Alain Juppé, Philippe supported the latter at the time of the creation of the Union for a Popular Movement (UMP) in 2002, marking the end of his left-wing activism; the same year, he failed to win his constituency in the legislative