Piquemal was born in Besançon. He lives in Toulouse's Patte d'Oie [fr] neighborhood.
Piquemal is a history and geography teacher.[3] At the time of his election to the National Assembly, Piquemal served as a member of the Toulouse municipal council.[4]
In the second round of the contest, Piquemal faced real estate company owner Marie-Claire Constans of the Ensemble Citoyens party.[5] Piquemal won the contest with 59.26% of the vote versus the 40.74% received by Constans.[6]
Political views
As a candidate, issues central to Piquemal's program were ending homelessness, boosting consumer spending power through price freezes, and environmentalist policies.[5] Amid the historic heat wave in France in June 2022, Piquemal criticized Macron's leadership and stressed that there is an "urgent need to act" on climate.[7]
Following his victory, Piquemal stated that his movement was following in the "footsteps of Jean Jaurès".[6]
Refusal to shake hands
Piquemal drew international attention when, during voting to choose the president of the French National Assembly, he declined to shake the hand of secretary and National Rally MP Flavien Termet.[8] A number of other MPs had also declined, but Piquemal chose to play Rock paper scissors with Termet in place of shaking his hand. He chose 'scissors', thereby making Termet's handshake appear to be a losing play of 'paper'.