Michaël Delafosse, President of Montpellier Méditerranée Métropole and Mayor of Montpellier since 2020
While Paris was his birthplace in 1977, Montpellier has been Michaël Delafosse's home town since he was a teenager. Married and the father of two boys, this graduate of a DEA in urban geography from the Université Paul-Valéry has been teaching history-geography since 2008 - "with a passion" - and passing it on to middle-school students at Fontcarrade in Montpellier.
Early involvement in public life
A high school trade unionist from the age of 16, and a lifelong socialist, he took his first steps as an elected official in 2008 as deputy mayor Hélène Mandroux's deputy for culture from 2008 to 2011, then for urban planning until 2014. From 2014 to 2020, he chaired the opposition group. Elected Hérault departmental councillor in 2015, he was in charge of the Finance and Public Contracts delegation from 2017 to mid-2020.
Sponsor of major projects
In June 2020, the left-wing and ecologist union list led by Michaël Delafosse won the elections, and on July 15 he became the 62nd mayor of Montpellier (population 300,000). President of Montpellier Méditerranée Métropole (31 communes, 500,000 inhabitants), he pilots major projects such as free transport, which has been totally free for all inhabitants of the Metropole since December 21, 2023.
National missions
Chairman of the Montpellier University Hospital's supervisory board since 2020, Michaël Delafosse has also chaired the Occitanie delegation of the French Hospital Federation (FHF) since 2021. He co-chairs the "Transport and Mobility" commission on the board of the France urbaine association and serves as second vice-president of the Association des villes universitaires françaises (AVUF).
Vice-chairman of the Association des maires de France (AMF), he is also its Laïcité referent. His commitment earned him the "Prix national de laïcité 2023" from the Comité Laïcité République in early November. He was the very first elected official to receive it.
