France: Who’s who in Macron’s revamped cabinet

06/07/2020

The Élysée Palace on Monday unveiled the full list of names that will serve in the new cabinet under new Prime Minister Jean Castex, who was appointed to the post by French President Emmanuel Macron last week.

Castex and the new government will be responsible for shepherding the economy out of its worst crisis since World War II, with a contraction of 11 percent expected this year largely due to the coronavirus. Macron is also hoping a revamped government will re-energise his presidency before he faces reelection next year.

Some of the top government posts have remained unchanged, with Bruno Le Maire staying on as economy minister, Jean-Yves Le Drian as foreign minister and Olivier Véran as health minister after his relatively successful handling of the Covid-19 crisis. Jean-Michel Blanquer will also stay on as education minister and Florence Parly as minister of defence.

But among the shakeups was the key post of interior minister, with Christophe Castaner to be replaced by Gerard Darmanin, while celebrated defence lawyer Eric Dupont-Moretti will replace Nicole Belloubet as justice minister.

Gabriel Attal will be taking over as government spokesperson from Sibeth Ndiaye.

Below is the full list of cabinet members:

Bruno Le Maire as finance and economy minister

Jean-Yves Le Drian as foreign minister

Gérald Darmanin as interior minister

Eric-Dupont Moretti as justice minister

Olivier Véran as health minister

Jean-Michel Blanquer as education minister

Florence Parly as defence minister

Roselyne Bachelot as culture minister

Barbara Pompili as environment minister

Franck Riester as international trade minister