Florian Philippot

Florian Philippot (born 24 October 1981 at Croix, Nord) is a French politician, a senior civil servant on leave, one of the five vice presidents of the Front National (FN) and one of the main advisors of Marine Le Pen, president of this party.
In October 2011, he was appointed by Marine Le Pen strategic director of her presidential campaign. In July 2012, he was appointed vice president in charge of strategy and communication of the FN.

Born on 24 October 1981 at Croix, he grew up in Bondues, a residential suburb in the Urban Community of Lille Métropole.

His father was a public head teacher, and his mother a primary school teacher. His brother, Damien Philippot, a graduate of Sciences Po and ESCP Europe (École supérieure de commerce de Paris), is currently a manager for political studies in the French polling organization (IFOP).

In 2012, he was parliamentary candidate in Moselle's 6th constituency. Despite the presence of a dissident candidate of the FN (4.09% for Eric Vilain) in the first round, he came second with 26.34% and defeated the incumbent UMP MP Pierre Lang (25.02%). Mayor of Forbach since 2008, Laurent Kalinowski defeated Florian Philippot in the run-off (53.70% against 46.30%).

On 9 November 2012, he went to Colombey-les-Deux-Églises to pay homage to Charles de Gaulle, putting flowers on his grave "in a private capacity" and stating his gaullist convictions. This act irritated some members of the FN, due to Jean-Marie Le Pen's animosity toward the defunct President. His convictions and ideas were described as incompatible with de Gaulle's legacy, by the UMP party, although some commentators don't consider the UMP as a gaullist party any more.

In December 2014, the French celebrity magazine Closer indicated that Philippot was gay, providing photographs of him and his boyfriend in Vienna. Philippot called the article an invasion of his privacy and said he would file a complaint against Closer. He further said the FN was neither "gay friendly" nor the opposite and that it was not difficult to be gay in the party.