David Lisnard (born 2 February 1969)[1] is a French politician of The Republicans (LR). He was elected mayor of Cannes in 2014.
Early and personal life
Lisnard was born in Limoges in Haute-Vienne. His father Denis Lisnard (1944–2024) was a professional footballer born in Cannes, who had started his career at AS Cannes and was playing at Limoges FC at the time of his birth. The Lisnard family had been fishers in Cannes since the 15th century; his great-grandfather Léon Lisnard had a construction company that built Cannes's Forville market in 1934, and his grandfather Raymond Lisnard owned a hotel. Through his mother, he has origins from Bordeaux and Corsica, and developed his Catholic faith.[1][2]
As of 2014, Lisnard had two daughters and a son. They were born to two mothers, and he was separated from both of them.[1]
In July 2016, Lisnard was one of several French mayors to ban the burkini. He said that the "ostentatious" religiosity of the swimwear was likely to disrupt public order due to recent terrorist attacks in France.[7] The following month, France's highest court, the Conseil d'État, suspended the burkini bans. The court said that personal freedom could not be restricted unless the risks to public safety were proven.[8] In June 2018, Cannes City Council was ordered by a court to reimburse the €11 fine given to a burkini wearer in August 2016.[9]
In the 2020 French municipal elections, Lisnard was re-elected with 88.1% of the votes in the first round.[10] The result gave his party all 49 seats on the city council.[11]
In June 2021, Lisnard launched on a national scale his party Nouvelle Énergie [fr], which he had set up upon becoming mayor in 2014.[12] That November, he was elected president of the Association des maires de France [fr] with 62.34% of the votes.[13]