Raffarin, Jean-Pierre (1948– )

French centre-right politician, prime minister 2002–05. Drawn from France's right-wing coalition, he became deputy general secretary of the Union pour la Démocratie Française (UDF; Union for French Democracy) in 1992 and vice-chair of Démocratie-Libéral (DL; Liberal Democracy) in 1997. The Raffarin government sought to devolve more power to the regions, encourage privatization, and take a tough line on law and order. However, rising unemployment, economic uncertainty, and public protests against planned reforms of the state pension system led to a sharp fall in his government's popularity 2003–04. He was forced to resign after the French public refused to ratify the European Union constitution in a referendum in May 2005.

Born in Poitiers, he studied at the Paris Superior College of Commerce and his early career was as a public relations consultant. He was general secretary of the Young Giscardians 1974–77 and later national secretary of the Republican Party. In 1988 he was elected chair of the Poitou-Charentes Regional Council, in 1989 became a member of the European Parliament, in 1995 was minister for small and medium enterprises in the Alain Juppé government, and in 1997 was elected a senator.