were in the employ of the French secret service. Further political career: 1986–2002 Fabius came to be seen as Lionel Jospin's rival to be Mitterrand's heir. He failed to win the First Secretaryship of the party in 1988 and 1990 (Rennes Congress) in spite of Mitterrand's support. Installed as President of the National Assembly in 1988 (at 41 years of age, the equal youngest in the history of the lower house), he succeeded finally in becoming First Secretary of the party in 1992, but resigned after the Socialist disaster of the 1993 legislative election. He came back as president of the National Assembly in 1997, then as Minister of Economy and Finance in Lionel Jospin's cabinet between 2000 and 2002. After Jospin's retirement, he hoped to return as Socialist leader but he failed. He declared that his mind was changed about a number of matters and he joined the left-wing of the party. Major figure of the Socialist Party: 2002–12 In this position he was the leader of the defeated No camp in the vote that took place among the members of his party on 1 December 2004, to decide the stance that the party would take on the impending referendum on the European Constitution. He went on to lead the rebel faction of the party advocating a no vote in the 2005 Referendum, and was seen as the spearhead of the whole no campaign in France. After the no vote won, the party leader gave an assurance that he could remain in the party though he was dismissed from the party's National Executive Committee. Fabius was a candidate in the Socialist Party's primary to be the party's candidate in the 2007 presidential election, but finished third, behind Ségolène Royal, the winner, and Dominique Strauss-Kahn. He was subsequently re-elected to the National Assembly in the June 2007 parliamentary election. Minister for Foreign Affairs: 2012–2016 On 17 May 2012, Laurent Fabius became foreign minister in the government of Jean-Marc Ayrault, appointed prime minister by President François Hollande. His mandate had three milestones : he didn't want to negotiate with President Assad to defeat what became ISIL, he supported Syrian rebel groups, and he reckoned that "Al-Nosra was doing a good job". As foreign minister, Fabius was also chair of the 2015 United Nations Climate Change Conference which took place in Paris. His way of engaging with all delegates to achieve a