French President Emmanuel Macron on Saturday (21) named the members of the new government, most of them right-wing, proposed by Prime Minister Michel Barnier, two and a half months after elections called early.
One of the key figures in the new government who symbolizes this ideological shift to the right is Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau, until then head of Barnier’s Republicans party in the Senate, known for his particularly tough stance on immigration.
Among the names that the secretary general of the Elysee Palace, Alexis Kohler, revealed when he announced the list, there is a single representative of the left, Didier Migaud, who was a socialist deputy for almost 22 years, appointed to the Ministry of Justice.
Migaud was, until then, the head of the High Authority for Transparency of Politics, a body in charge of supervising the probity of people in public office and, from a hierarchical point of view, he will be just below Barnier.
In the two ministries with sovereign powers and in which Macron, as head of state, will continue to have a lot to say, there are two men known for their closeness to him.
Sébastien Lécornu will be back in charge of Defense, while Jean-Noël Barrot will be in charge of Foreign Affairs, a promotion for this man who came from a family of politicians and who was in charge of European Affairs in the previous government.
There are also several other names that will be repeated in the new government, such as the head of Culture, Rachida Dati; Catherine Vautrin, who will move from Labor to the portfolio of Relations with Territories and Decentralization; and Agnès Pannier Runacher, who will be promoted to Minister of Ecological Transition.
Geneviève Darrieussecq, who in the previous government was Minister Delegate for Veterans Affairs at the Department of Defense, is now in charge of Health. The head of the Economy, Finance and Industry portfolio will be a young 33-year-old Macronist who was previously a member of parliament, Antoine Armand.
No less relevant at a critical moment for French public finances and just a few days before the presentation of the 2025 budget will be the figure of the new Finance Minister, Laurent Saint Martin, who will be organically linked to the Prime Minister’s office, which says a lot about Barnier’s willingness to supervise his work closely.
Laurence Garnier, who appeared on a list circulated on Thursday as the new family minister, sparking controversy because of her previous positions against same-sex marriage and the constitutionalization of abortion, has finally joined the government, but in a relatively minor role, as secretary of state for consumption.
Kohler said the first council of ministers of the new cabinet will be held next Monday at 3 pm local time (10 am in Brasilia).
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