François Léotard

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François Gerard Marie Léotard (born March 26, 1942, Cannes) is a retired French politician. He is the brother of singer/actor Philippe Léotard.

Member of the Republican Party, the liberal-conservative component of the Union for French Democracy (UDF), he appeared in the foreground of the political scene in the 1980s. He led a new generation of right-wing politicians, the "renovationmen", who opposed to the old right-wing leaders Jacques Chirac and Valéry Giscard d'Estaing.

Culture Minister, from 1986 to 1988, he sold the main public TV chanel TF1. He returned in the cabinet as Defense Minister, from 1993 to 1995. Supporting the candidacy of Edouard Balladur in the 1995 presidential election, he was dismissed after Chirac's election. Elected president of the UDF in 1996, he could not prevent the split of this confederation two years later with Alain Madelin's secession. This and the party's poor showing in the 1998 regional elections prompted his resignation. After a mission in Macedonia in 2001, he retired from politics.

Political offices
Preceded by Jack Lang	Minister of Culture 1986-1988	Succeeded by Jack Lang
Preceded by Pierre Bérégovoy	Minister of Defence 1993-1995	Succeeded by Charles Millon
Party political offices
Preceded by Valéry Giscard d'Estaing	President of the Union for French Democracy 1996-1998	Succeeded by François Bayrou