French PM Edouard Philippe has resigned. A new PM will be announced in the next few hours, according to the Elysée
And it won’t be Edouard Philippe again
Under the French Fifth Republic, it is rare that a president keeps the same PM for his entire mandate. Sarkozy was an exception:
De Gaulle: 3
Pompidou: 2
Giscard: 2
Mitterrand: 3 + 4
Chirac: 2 + 2
Sarkozy: 1
Hollande: 3
So replacing Philippe doesn't necessarily reflect a falling-out between him and Macron. Bar a few noted policy differences, they worked together well. In some ways it's actually a risk, as Philippe could build his own political future from Le Havre, where he was elected mayor
Edouard Philippe has in fact been more popular than Macron for most of their joint tenure. Since April the gap has widened. June poll average via @leJDD:
Macron 39%
Philippe 49%
Well few saw that coming. The new French prime minister is Jean Castex, Macron's covid-19 coordinator, and somebody largely unknown to the general public
This is what the new French PM Jean Castex looks like, because nobody seems to know
The new French PM Jean Castex is
-an énarque
-from the centre-right
-mayor of Prades, in the Pyrénées-Orientales
-former chief of staff to Xavier Bertrand, when he was a minister under Sarkozy
In other words, the perfect profile to enable Macron to run everything himself
The one new angle Jean Castex may bring to government is a close connection to la France profonde. He is mayor of a small village of 6,000 in the Pyrenees, and spends every weekend there. A new form of decentralised decision-making is expected to be part of Macron's "new course"
Here's a profile of him from @lemondefr
lemonde.fr/m-le-mag/artic…
I understand that new French PM Jean Castex may appoint as chief of staff Nicolas Revel, who worked w/ Macron at the Elysée under Socialist PR Hollande. If so this is interesting. Revel was chief of staff to Bertrand Delanoë (ex-Socialist Paris mayor) so brings balance from left
And it looks as if Macron is going to give Philippe a new "mission": to sort out the chaotic presidential party and its centrist allies. If so, hard for Philippe to build his own independent political future🤔
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