Giannis Plakiotakis

Giannis Plakiotakis (Greek: Γιάννης Πλακιωτάκης; born 10 July 1968) is a Greek politician who served as the acting President of New Democracy following the resignation of Vangelis Meimarakis. He has been a Member of the Hellenic Parliament (MP) for Lasithi since 2004.

Giannis Plakiotakis
Γιάννης Πλακιωτάκης
Plakiotakis in 2015
Minister for Shipping and Island Policy
In office 9 July 2019 – 26 May 2023
Prime Minister	Kyriakos Mitsotakis
Preceded by	Fotis Kouvelis
Succeeded by	Theodoros Kliaris
Leader of the Opposition
In office 24 November 2015 – 10 January 2016
Prime Minister	Alexis Tsipras
Preceded by	Vangelis Meimarakis
Succeeded by	Kyriakos Mitsotakis
President of New Democracy Acting
In office 24 November 2015 – 10 January 2016
Preceded by	Vangelis Meimarakis
Succeeded by	Kyriakos Mitsotakis
Personal details
Born	(1968-07-10) 10 July 1968 (age 57) Athens, Greece
Political party	New Democracy
Alma mater	University of Wales University of London City University London

Early life and education

Plakiotakis was born in Athens and studied biochemical engineering at the University of Wales. He then completed a Master's degree in biochemical engineering at the University of London before completing another master's degree in business administration at City University London.^[1]

Political career

Plakiotakis has been a member of New Democracy since 1987. He was a municipal advisor for the Sitia municipality from 1990 to 2002. He was first elected as a New Democracy Member of the Hellenic Parliament for Lasithi in 2004, being re-elected in every election since.^[1]

In October 2007, Plakiotakis was appointed as a Deputy Minister for National Defence.^[1] In 2015, he was the secretary of the New Democracy parliamentary group.^[2]

On 24 November 2015, Vangelis Meimarakis appointed Plakiotakis as a Vice President of New Democracy whilst he considered whether or not to resign.^[3] Later that day, Meimarakis resigned, appointing Plakiotakis as the interim President of the party until the conclusion of the New Democracy leadership election.^[2]