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Paris, July 9, 2025 (OLA NEWS) – Bruno Retailleau, the party leader, brought together LR parliamentarians and elected officials this Tuesday to pay tribute to Olivier Marleix, who passed away the previous day at the age of 54. The former chairman of the group in the National Assembly, who held the position from 2022 to 2024, leaves behind a substantial political career and a personality respected even by his opponents.
The Interior Minister began his speech by emphasizing the need to be “together after the shock of his passing.” Several prominent right-wing figures were present at the party’s headquarters, including Michel Barnier, Laurent Wauquiez, Valérie Pécresse, Mathieu Darnaud, and Gérard Larcher. All paid tribute to a “distinguished member of our political family,” in Retailleau’s words.
The son of former minister Alain Marleix, Olivier Marleix began his political career as mayor of Anet, then served as a departmental councillor before becoming a Member of Parliament for Eure-et-Loir. Bruno Retailleau praised “his loyalty to the party despite setbacks” and recalled his “Gaullist convictions, which shaped not only his political journey but above all his vision of France.” In 2019, he notably referred the acquisition of Alstom’s energy division by American company General Electric to the National Financial Prosecutor’s Office.
Party members later gathered in front of a black-and-white photograph of the former MP. A tribute was also paid to him a few minutes later at the National Assembly, where a minute of silence was observed. The Assembly’s President, Yaël Braun-Pivet, praised a parliamentarian “who had politics in his blood.”
Reporting and pictures by Arnaud Vilette, Lucas Autréau, OLA NEWS PARIS; editing by Alexandre Minguez
