Leader of the Opposition (Saint-Baptiste)

Leader of the Opposition
Chef de l'opposition
Incumbent Valérie Deschanel since 7 September 2016
Member of	Chamber of Deputies
Term length	While leader of the largest party not in government
Inaugural holder	Robert Ballesdens
Formation	1 July 1947

The Leader of the Opposition (Principean: Chef de l'opposition) is the politician who heads and leads the parliamentary opposition in Saint-Baptiste. The Leader of the Opposition is typically the leader of the largest party not in government, although instances have occurred where the Leader of the Opposition is instead a sitting opposition member of the Chamber of Deputies when the party leader does not have a seat. The role of the Leader of the Opposition primarily revolves around providing criticism and accountability to the government, and acting as an alternate Prime Minister if the government loses support in the Chamber. The Leader of the Opposition is typically granted the same protections and rights as cabinet members. The current Leader of the Opposition is Valérie Deschanel, since 2015.

List of Leaders of the Opposition

No.	Portrait	Name (Birth–Death)	Term of office			Political party	Prime Minister
			Took office	Left office	Time in office
1		Robert Ballesdens Deputy for Saint-Luc (1896–1950)	1 July 1947	10 November 1950 (died in office)	3 years, 132 days	POSB		Claude-Antoine Bachelet
								Jean-Charles D'Aboville
Position vacant from 10 November 1950 to 24 April 1986
2		Joseph Morin Deputy for Le Rocher (born 1952)	24 April 1986	21 April 1994	7 years, 362 days	POSB		Cyrille Bachelet
								Jean-Pierre Boisselot
3		Jean-Pierre Boisselot Deputy for Patois (1937–2018)	21 April 1994	5 May 1998	4 years, 14 days	PAP		Joseph Morin
4		Emmanuel Ménard Deputy for Pointe-à-L'anse (born 1944)	5 May 1998	5 September 2000	2 years, 123 days	PAP
(2)		Joseph Morin Deputy for Le Rocher (born 1952)	5 September 2000	11 May 2002	1 year, 248 days	POSB		Emmanuel Ménard
5		Paul Chappelle Deputy for Saint-Antoine (born 1961)	11 May 2002	10 September 2008	6 years, 122 days	POSB
(4)		Emmanuel Ménard Deputy for Pointe-à-L'anse (born 1944)	10 September 2008	2 June 2009	265 days	PAP		Paul Chappelle
6		Marc-Antoine Vernier Deputy for Port-Anne Centre (born 1963)	2 June 2009	4 September 2012	3 years, 94 days	PAP
7		Daniel Tremblay Deputy for Saint-Maurice (born 1951)	4 September 2012	7 September 2016	4 years, 3 days	POSB		Marc-Antoine Vernier
8		Valérie Deschanel Deputy for Fort-Royal (born 1976)	7 September 2016	Incumbent	8 years, 82 days	POSB
								Robert Ménard