Benoît Payan

Benoît Payan
Payan in 2024
Mayor of Marseille
Incumbent
Assumed office 15 December 2020 Acting: 15–21 December 2020
Preceded by	Michèle Rubirola
Personal details
Born	(1978-01-31) 31 January 1978 (age 46) Marseille, France
Political party	Miscellaneous left
Other political affiliations	Socialist Party (until 2020)

Benoît Payan (French pronunciation: [bənwa pajɑ̃]; born 31 January 1978)[1] is a French politician who has served as Mayor of Marseille since 2020. He was a member of the Socialist Party (PS) until 2020.

Early life

Payan was born and raised in the Pont-de-Vivaux neighbourhood in the 10th arrondissement of Marseille, the son of a carpenter and civil servant.[2] During his studies to become a notary, he joined the Young Socialist Movement.[3]

Career

Payan served as an adviser to Michel Vauzelle when he was President of the Regional Council of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, then to Marie-Arlette Carlotti when she served in government (2012–2014).

Elected a municipal councillor in 2014 for the 3rd sector (4th and 5th arrondissements), Payan became leader of the Socialist group in the municipal council in 2016, then the main opposition group to Mayor Jean-Claude Gaudin's conservative administration.[4] In 2015, he was also elected to the Departmental Council of Bouches-du-Rhône for the canton of Marseille-1 alongside Michèle Rubirola,[5] a position he was reelected to in 2021.

In July 2019, Payan was one of the founders of Printemps marseillais ("Marseille Spring"), a broad left-wing electoral alliance seeking to end Gaudin's quarter-century in office in the 2020 election.[6] He criticised the candidacy of Socialist dissenter Samia Ghali, believing it could divide the vote and hand victory to the right by default.[7]

Payan's coalition won the election in July, installing Europe Ecology – The Greens member Michèle Rubirola as Marseille's first woman and Green mayor.[8] Payan was reelected a municipal councillor, this time for the 2nd sector (2nd and 3rd arrondissements). Rubirola unexpectedly resigned on 15 December 2020, citing health reasons, transferring roles with Payan, her first deputy.[9] On 21 December he was officially voted into office, with support from Ghali's eight councillors and without competition from the right.[10]

Policies

Payan supports the city selling the Stade Vélodrome football stadium, but only to its tenants, Olympique de Marseille.[11] He has criticised the environmental impact of cruise liners on Marseille.[12] While in opposition, Payan collected 10,000 signatures against a public–private partnership plan to spend €1 billion demolishing and rebuilding over 30 primary schools.[13] In July 2024, Payan made headlines for instructing Olympique de Marseille president Pablo Longoria not to sign Mason Greenwood, an English player who had been charged but not convicted of crimes of violence against women.[14] Despite this, the club went on to sign Greenwood later that month.[15]

References

1. "Déclaration de situation patrimoniale" [Déclaration of assets] (PDF) (in French). Printemps marseillais. Retrieved 3 March 2021.
2. "Qui est Benoît Payan, le successeur de Michèle Rubirola à la mairie de Marseille ?" [Who is Benoît Payan, Michèle Rubirola's successor as mayor of Marseille?] (in French). Europe 1. 21 December 2020. Retrieved 3 March 2021.
3. Deleforterie, Valentin (16 December 2020). "Marseille : qui est Benoît Payan, le possible successeur de Rubirola à la mairie ?" [Marseille: who is Benoît Payan, Rubirola's possible successor as mayor?] (in French). RTL. Retrieved 3 March 2021.
4. Castelly, Lisa; Leforestier, Jean-Marie (17 September 2019). "Le cas Benoît Payan, point de crispation de l'union de la gauche marseillaise" [The case of Benoît Payan, point of contention in the union of the left in Marseille] (in French). Marsactu. Retrieved 3 March 2021.
5. de Broqua, Aliette (23 March 2015). "Fin de l'ère Guérini dans les Bouches-du-Rhône" [End of the Guérini era in Bouches-du-Rhône]. Le Figaro (in French). Retrieved 3 March 2021.
6. Rougier, Ana (24 July 2019). "Benoît Payan représentera le PS dans le projet d'union de la gauche à Marseille" [Benoît Payan will represent the PS in the united left-wing project in Marseille] (in French). Marsactu. Retrieved 3 March 2021.
7. "Municipales à Marseille : "Qui peut croire que Samia Ghali va offrir sur le tapis vert une victoire à la droite qu'elle combat depuis 25 ans ?", lance un élu du Printemps marseillais" [Local elections in Marseille: "Who could believe that Samia Ghali is going to offer by default a victory to the right wing that she has fought for 25 years?", asks a Printemps marseillais councillor] (in French). France Info. 29 June 2020. Retrieved 3 March 2021.
8. "Green, left-wing Michèle Rubirola becomes Marseille's first woman mayor". France 24. 5 July 2020. Retrieved 3 March 2021.
9. Saint-Gilles, Pierre; Berdah, Arthur (15 December 2020). "La maire de Marseille Michèle Rubirola annonce sa démission" [The mayor of Marseille Michèle Rubirola announces her resignation]. Le Figaro (in French). Retrieved 3 March 2021.
10. "Benoît Payan devient le nouveau maire de Marseille" [Benoît Payan becomes the new mayor of Marseille]. Le Parisien (in French). 21 December 2020. Retrieved 3 March 2021.
11. "Benoît Payan, le maire de Marseille : : [sic] " Je ne vendrai le Vélodrome qu'à l'OM "" [Benoît Payan, the mayor of Marseille: "I will only sell the Vélodrome to l'OM"]. L'Équipe (in French). 1 March 2021. Retrieved 3 March 2021.
12. Payan, Camille (10 February 2021). ""On ne peut plus tolérer les bateaux de croisière, ces monstres des mers, à Marseille" lance Sébastien Barles" ["We can no longer tolerate cruise ships, these monsters of the seas, in Marseille" says Sébastien Barles] (in French). France Bleu. Retrieved 3 March 2021.
13. Casanova, Christophe (21 January 2019). "Marseille : le "PPP" pour les écoles peut repasser par le conseil municipal" [Marseille: "PPP" for primary schools is going back to the city council]. La Marseillaise (in French). Retrieved 3 March 2021.
14. Lebreton, Jean-Guy; Joanin, Victor (9 July 2024). ""Je ne veux pas que mon club soit couvert par la honte": Benoit Payan, maire de Marseille, scandalisé par une possible signature de Greenwood à l'OM" ["I don't want my club to be covered in shame": Benoît Payan, mayor of Marseille, incensed by the possible signing of Greenwood to OM] (in French). RMC Sport. Retrieved 18 July 2024.
15. "Mason Greenwood: Marseille sign Man Utd forward". BBC Sport. 18 July 2024. Retrieved 18 October 2024.