Career
He is also the former spokesman of the National Centre of Independents and Peasants, of which he has been the president since October 24, 2009. Gilles Bourdouleix was elected mayor of Cholet the first time on June 19, 1995 with a lead of 148 votes. He succeeded Maurice Ligot who was his Chief of Staff.
He was elected mayor again in the second round of voting in March 2001 with 61.69% of the votes.
He was again reelected in 2008. Bourdouleix represents the department of Maine-et-Loire.
In July 2013, Bourdouleix garnered controversy for allegedly saying Adolf Hitler had not killed enough Romani people. Bourdouleix, who had been faced with Nazi salutes and accusations of racism, is said to have stated about a group of Romani people in exasperation, "lieutenant"s almost as if Hitler didn"t kill enough." On July 22, these remarks were reported in the French newspaper Le Courrier de l"Ouest which led to a significant political outcry against Bourdouleix.
There, that"s basically what I said."
A recording of Bourdouleix"s comments were published by Le Courrier de l"Ouest in order to verify their claims, and a forensic analysis of the recording certified it as authentic.
This, along with the initial accusations, led to an investigation of Bourdouleix by the Criminal Court of Angers which charged him with condoning crimes against humanity and defamation of the newspaper Le Courrier de l"Ouest. On January 23, 2014, Bourdouleix was found guilty of the charge and was fined 3,000 euros, though his fine was suspended. On August 12, 2014, Bourdouleix"s conviction was upheld by the Court of Appeal.
On December 15, 2015, the Court of Appeal cancelled the sentence.