Philippe Poutou (; born 14 March 1967) is a French far-left politician, former trade unionist and car factory worker. He was the New Anticapitalist Party's candidate in the presidential elections of 2012, 2017 and 2022, in which he respectively received 1.15%, 1.09% and 0.76% of the vote. Trade union activity Poutou was secretary of the General Confederation of Labour at the Ford Motor Company in the Aquitaine region of France. He was a car industry worker until his factory closed in 2019. In 2007, he played a leading role in union negotiations with the company over the potential axing of 2,000 jobs; he was a union spokesman to the media. Early political activity Poutou was a candidate for the Revolutionary Communist League in the 2007 legislative election. He stood in the 5th constituency of Gironde, where he gathered 1,582 votes (2.7%) and placed eighth, as the party failed to win a seat in the National Assembly. He then led its successor party, the New Anticapitalist Party, in the 2010 regional election in his home region of Aquitaine. He failed to be elected a regional councillor as the list he led obtained 2.5% of the vote. Poutou stood again in the 2012 legislative election in which he gathered 1,264 votes (2.12%) and placed eighth a second time. In the 2014 European Parliament election, he led the New Anticapitalist Party list in South-West France but failed to be elected an MEP. Presidential candidacies 2012 In June 2011, he was chosen by the New Anticapitalist Party as its candidate for the 2012 presidential election. Media noted that he was virtually unknown to the public, as well as that he might find it difficult to succeed previous candidate Olivier Besancenot, a well recognised figure popular beyond the party itself. He would, in addition, have to contend with divisions within the party over whether to engage more with the Left Front, with an aim to unify the political forces on the left of the centre-left Socialist Party. For much of the campaign, he remained little known to the general public; he was described as lacking Besancenot's popularity, charisma and ease with words. Freely admitting that he did not particularly want to be a candidate and that he did not aim to be elected, particularly as one of his policies was to abolish the presidency, in favour of a fully parliamentary system, he saw his profile