François Sauvadet
François Sauvadet (born 20 April 1953) is a French journalist and politician of the Union of Democrats and Independents (UDI) who has been serving as the president of the Côte-d'Or department in eastern France since 2008. Early career. Sauvadet worked as a journalist at regional daily newspaper "Le Bien Public" from 1977 until 1993. Political career. Sauvadet represented Côte-d'Or's 4th constituency in the French National Assembly from 1993 to 2016, when he resigned to focus on activities in regional politics. Over the course of his career in national politics, Sauvadet served as the chair of  the New Centre's parliamentary group from 2007 to 2011 and as Minister for the Civil Service in the government of Prime Minister François Fillon from 2011 to 2012. Ahead of the 2012 French presidential election, he endorsed Nicolas Sarkozy as the center-right parties' joint candidate. In 2012, he was one of the founders of the Union of Democrats and Independents (UDI).