In addition to allowing Emmanuel Macron to assume his image as a young reformer president, Jean Castex is also the guardian of the electoral bastion of the president's right.

A strategy based on an alliance of opposites: a Prime Minister who speaks to the territories and an urban president, turned towards 2022. 

ANALYSIS

5 months and 11 days ago, the ex- "Monsieur déconfinement", reached Matignon.

And Emmanuel Macron did not choose Jean Castex by chance to succeed Edouard Philippe.

A recognized senior official, he is there to manage current affairs but above all to manage crises: the Covid-19, social discontent, the anger of the police ... While Castex must do Castex, Emmanuel Macron takes height in optics of 2022. 

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Jean Castex is the exceptional guest of Europe 1 Tuesday at 8:15 am

A Prime Minister who speaks to the territories

Because in the president's strategy to prepare for the day of his re-election, Jean Castex is important.

Former mayor of Prade, a small town of 6,000 inhabitants in the Pyrénées-Orientales, the deceptively good-natured Prime Minister of 54 years has the image of a senior official who speaks (with an accent) of common sense.

So many characteristics that allow Emmanuel Macron to stand out and at the same time assume his image of a young reformer president, likely to unite on the idea of ​​a Republic anchored in his history.

The Castex / Macron couple is the alliance of opposites between an urban Head of State and a Prime Minister who speaks to the territories. 

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Guardian of the electoral stronghold of the pro-Macron right

But Jean Castex must also dig another furrow: that of the right center from which he comes.

Former collaborator of Xavier Bertrand at the Ministry of Health then, more briefly, of Nicolas Sarkozy.

He must consolidate the electoral bastion of the pro-Macron right, vital voices for a re-election in 2022. A strategy which is done to the chagrin of some close relatives from the left of the head of state who must resign themselves to the idea that Emmanuel Macron really wants to address only the right of his electorate. 

For now, this distribution of roles within the executive couple benefits the Head of State, but it is not without risk: with the economic crisis, the vagaries of deconfinement or even the uncertainties about the vaccination strategy, Jean Castex, the president's shield, must avoid becoming a scapegoat for the discontented French.