He was briefly the President of the National Assembly in 2007.
He is the partner of Michèle Alliot-Marie, Minister of Foreign and European Affairs in the government of François Fillon.
He was elected on 16 June 2002, representing the Hauts-de-Seine, near Paris.
He is president of the French National Assembly's committee on Economic Affairs, the Environment, and Territory.
He ended up as the only candidate, as the opposition refused to take part in the vote, and was elected on 7 March 2007.
However, and although he had expressed the wish to remain President of the Assembly, he was not chosen by the UMP group as its candidate for the presidency after the legislative election, and was succeeded by Bernard Accoyer on 26 June of the same year.