 He was first elected to the National Assembly in 1986, as representative of Loire Atlantique "department", and he was consistently re-elected in subsequent elections.In 1989, he was chosen by the PS to conquer the mayoralty of Nantes, held by the Rally for the Republic (RPR) party, and he won.Re-elected in 1995, 2001 and 2008, he was also president of the Urban Community of Nantes Métropole since 2002.