Jean Castex appointed new Prime Minister

He was the "Monsieur déconfinement" of the French government. Jean Castex, 55, is now the new Prime Minister after the resignation of Edouard Philippe. He was appointed Friday July 3 by Emmanuel Macron.

On April 2, when his appointment was announced to prepare the deconfinement plan, Édouard Philippe avaot praised "a senior civil servant who knows the world of health perfectly and is formidable in efficiency".

Jean Castex was responsible for solving the puzzle of the progressive deconfinement of the French population in a context where the new coronavirus will not have completely disappeared. A challenge that did not scare this enarch, accustomed to complex files, who can rely on a professional and political life very largely oriented towards the social sector and health.

"Clear and outspoken ideas"

After graduating from the ENA in 1991, admitted to the Court of Auditors, Jean Castex chose a post of director of health and social affairs in the Var. Then he joined the local prefecture before becoming, in 2005-2006, director of hospitalization and organization of care at the Ministry of Solidarity and Social Cohesion. This is where he will be spotted by Xavier Bertrand, who will make him his chief of staff twice, first at the Ministry of Health (2006-2007) and then at Work (2007-2008).

"During the first pandemic plan (for the H5N1 virus in 2006, Editor's note), it is Jean Castex who is dircab", recalls Xavier Bertrand, to AFP, stressing that "WHO had then indicated that we were one of the best prepared countries in the world. "

"The side 'I put you in place a plan that does not work on the ground', this is really not the kind of house Castex", adds the president of the Hauts-de-France region, praising "the clear ideas and outspokenness "of this" rectified enarch elected local ".

A political  journey  to the right

"Politically, I'm right and I assume it perfectly", liked to underline Jean Castex at the time, according to AFP.

Member of the Les Républicains party, he is particularly close to Nicolas Sarkozy, of whom he was the assistant secretary general at the Élysée. This does not prevent him from supporting the candidacy of François Fillon for the presidency of the UMP during the congress of autumn 2012.

He also knows how to manage support for La République en Marche: his name had been circulated at the end of 2018 to replace Gérard Collomb at the Ministry of the Interior before the former socialist Christophe Castaner was preferred to him.

Until his appointment on April 2, he had also been an inter-ministerial delegate for the Paris-2024 Olympic Games and major sporting events, and chaired the National Sports Agency.

An elected representative in contact

This senior official also knows how to maintain a local attachment. This father of four has retained the southern accent and remains very attached to his native Gers. Since 2008, he has been mayor of Prades, where he was also widely re-elected with 76% of the vote in the first round of municipal elections, 48 ​​hours before confinement.

Prades: Jean Castex elected with more than 75% of the votes cast https://t.co/YN2OsBhIlp #municipales #perpignan #politique

He was also regional councilor of Languedoc-Roussillon from 2010 to 2015 and presented himself for deputation during the legislative elections of 2012, during which he was beaten by the PS candidate, Ségolène Neuville.

With AFP

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