Speakers & Moderators

Born in 1965 in Châlons-sur-Marne, Xavier Bertrand earned a master’s degree in public law and a postgraduate diploma in local government administration from the Faculty of Law and Political Science at the University of Reims. He worked as an insurance agent in Flavy-le-Martel, in the Aisne department, from 1992 to 2004.

In 1995, he became deputy mayor of Saint-Quentin, responsible for community activities and urban development. In 1998, he was elected to the Aisne General Council and, in 2002, as a member of the National Assembly representing the 2nd constituency of Aisne.

Appointed Secretary of State for Health Insurance in 2004, Xavier Bertrand served as Minister of Health from 2005 to 2007, before being appointed Minister of Labor from May 2007 to January 2009, and then Minister of Labor, Employment, and Health from 2010 to May 2012. As part of his responsibilities, he spearheaded a significant set of social reforms, including the introduction of minimum service requirements in public transportation and the ban on smoking in public places.

He was elected Mayor of Saint-Quentin in 2010 and re-elected as Member of Parliament for the 2nd constituency of Aisne in 2012.

In December 2015, he became the first president of the Hauts-de-France Region (6 million inhabitants). He stepped down from his roles as Member of Parliament and Mayor to devote himself fully to implementing his plan for the region’s residents, “Our Region at Work.”

On June 27, 2021, he was re-elected to lead the Hauts-de-France Region for a second term.