A member of the Socialist Party (PS), she served in a number of ministerial positions during the presidency of François Hollande.

[4] Second in a family of seven children, Vallaud-Belkacem was born on 4 October 1977[5] in the Moroccan countryside in Bni Chiker, a village near Nador in the Rif region.

[10] Vallaud-Belkacem joined the Socialist Party in 2002 and the team of Lyon mayor Gérard Collomb in 2003, leading actions to strengthen local democracy, the fight against discrimination, promotion of citizen rights, and access to employment and housing.

In 2005 and 2006 she was a columnist for the cultural programme C'est tout vu on Télé Lyon Municipale alongside Stéphane Cayrol.

In February 2007, Vallaud-Belkacem joined Ségolène Royal's presidential campaign team as a spokeswoman, serving alongside Vincent Peillon and Arnaud Montebourg.

In 2009, Vallaud-Belkacem once again served as Royal's spokesperson ahead of the 2011 French Socialist Party presidential primary, this time alongside Delphine Batho.

In her capacity as minister, Vallaud-Belkacem made headlines in 2012 when she introduced anti-sexism courses with presentations on stereotyping, inappropriate language, wage disparity and domestic violence for her fellow cabinet members.

[14] In 2013, she declared as officially revoked an old bylaw requiring women in Paris to ask permission from city authorities before "dressing as men", including wearing trousers (with exceptions for those "holding a bicycle handlebar or the reins of a horse").

[19] In March 2018, Vallaud-Belkacem joined research and polling firm Ipsos as CEO of its Global Affairs division.

[21] In addition, Vallaud-Belkacem launched and co-directs the Gender Equality and Public Policy programme at the Paris Institute of Political Studies.