François Ruffin

François Marcel Joseph Bernard Ruffin (born 18 October 1975) is a French journalist, filmmaker, author and politician.

Ruffin was born in Calais on 18 October 1975, and grew up in Amiens.

His father worked for the French vegetable processing company Bonduelle and his mother was a housewife.

Ruffin was educated at a private Catholic lycée, the Jesuit institute Lycée la Providence, alongside Emmanuel Macron who was two years his junior.

In 1999 Ruffin founded an ultra-leftist newspaper called Fakir, and the following year entered journalism school at the Centre de formation des journalistes in Paris.

In 2003 he published a book, Les Petits Soldats du journalisme, in which he drew on his experiences at journalism school.

He was critical of the method by which journalists are trained, arguing that it leaves no room for political engagement or for critical opposition to capitalism.

Ruffin's investigative journalism work has focused on the behaviour of multinational companies.

He has developed a technique for questioning the CEO's of these companies.

He buys shares in the company and then attends the shareholders' annual general meeting, this being often the only way a journalist is able to make contact with the CEO.

He has published his work in Le Monde diplomatique as well as in the pages of Fakir; he has also reported for the France Inter radio programme Là-bas si j'y suis.

The editor-in-chief of the satirical quarterly Fakir, which he founded, he is best known for directing the 2016 film Merci patron! as well as for playing an instrumental role in the formation of the Nuit debout movement in France.

The documentary film Merci patron!, released nationally in France in February 2016, which Ruffin directed, is a product of his earlier journalism work.

In the film, Ruffin takes on the case of Jocelyn and Serge Klur, both textile workers who have been made redundant, the factory where they worked having been relocated to Poland.

The factory had been run by a company owned by Bernard Arnault, France's richest man.

The film follows Ruffin's efforts to force Arnault to pay back the Klurs for "ruining their lives".

Before making the film, Ruffin had been investigating Arnault's business affairs for several years, and he met the Klurs in the course of his investigations.

Economist Frédéric Lordon described Merci patron! as a direct action film.

Ruffin has said he was inspired by the American filmmaker Michael Moore and subsequently nicknamed as such.

The film received positive reviews in the French press and was a box office success, initially receiving attention almost entirely by word of mouth.

The Nuit debout movement arose as a result of events surrounding the film.

In a piece written for Le Monde diplomatique, Frédéric Lordon described the film as a clarion call for a potential mass uprising.

In response to this piece, and recognising the enthusiastic public response to advanced screenings of the film, Ruffin organised a meeting in Paris on 23 February 2016 to discuss future political actions.

He has said that the aim of the meeting was to bring together a number of disparate protest groups, including people protesting against a proposed airport at Notre-Dame-des-Landes, factory workers protesting against the Goodyear tire company, and teachers protesting against education reforms.

A retired delivery driver who attended the meeting was quoted as saying, "There were about 300 or 400 of us at a public meeting in February and we were wondering how can we really scare the government?. We had an idea: at the next big street protest, we simply wouldn’t go home."

As a result of the meeting, an occupation was arranged for Paris's Place de la République, to take place on the evening of 31 March 2016, under the name Nuit debout, following scheduled street protests earlier in the day against the government's proposed labour reforms.

In the days following this event, protests continued, spreading to other cities throughout France and into neighbouring countries in Europe.

In November 2016, Ruffin announced that he would run for the National Assembly in the departement of Somme's 1st constituency, an area where the far-right National Front had gained in traction and popularity.

His political platform was one inspired by those of La France Insoumise, the French Communist Party, and Europe Ecology – The Greens.

He pledges to adhere to the principles of a "revocable mandate" and to only keep a minimum wage of his salary.

Ruffin has held the seat for Somme's 1st constituency in the National Assembly since 2017.

Ahead of the 2017 legislative election, he created the regional political party Picardie Debout ("Arise Picardy") and ran as its sole candidate, with the initial support of La France Insoumise, Europe Ecology – The Greens and the French Communist Party in the first round, before that of the Socialist Party's candidate in the second round.

Once elected, he joined the La France Insoumise group; he remains de facto associated with that political party, although he often dissents from its mainstream.

He officially launched his campaign on 17 February 2017, at Flixecourt, France. Employees of the Whirlpool plant in Amiens are present, to bring attention to the situation of their factory, whose management has announced the closure and relocation in Poland.

His campaign slogan is "They have the money, we have the people" and he symbolizes his campaign the Lafleur puppet, ingrained in Picardy's culture, and names his micro-political party Picardie Debout, which can be translated as Arise Picardy.

For the first electoral round, his campaign receives the support of La France Insoumise, the French Communist Party and Europe Ecology—The Greens.

On 11 June, he qualified for the second round of the legislative elections with 24.32% of the votes cast, coming second behind En Marche! candidate Nicolas Dumont, credited with 34.13% of the vote.

In the second round, the incumbent and disqualified Socialist Party candidate Pascal Boistard also endorses Ruffin's candidacy.

He received 55.97% of the votes cast in the runoff against Dumont and was elected.

Ideologically, Ruffin has described himself as being a social democrat.