An English teacher by training and a 2007 graduate of the Institut des Hautes Etudes de l'Entreprise, Catherine Morin-Desailly began her political career in 1995 when she was elected deputy mayor in charge of school and youth affairs. in Bois-Guillaume (76). She is then deputy mayor of the city of Rouen, delegate for Culture.

After having been elected Regional Councilor of Haute-Normandie, she was elected senator of Seine-Maritime on September 26, 2004. After being Vice-President of the European Affairs Committee of the Senate from 2011 to 2014, she is since 2014 President of the Commission for Culture, Education and Communication.

Media budget rapporteur, author of several reports on public broadcasting and digital, she has also been rapporteur for opinion of the bill to better guarantee the right to privacy in the digital era.