In total, Gabriel Attal’s government team includes 34 ministers, delegate ministers and secretaries of state.
A tight government, or almost. After a month of waiting which put the nerves of those involved to the test, the complete list of Gabriel Attal’s team was released on Thursday February 8 at 8:30 p.m. “To complete my government, it took a little time”himself admitted Prime Minister, guest on the show “L’Événement”on France 2. Twenty new ministers have been appointed and complete the first list of 14 leading ministers.
Despite the thunderous exit of Emmanuel Macron’s historic ally, François Bayrou, the balance within the majority between the three components – Renaissance, MoDem and Horizons – remains the same. The main highlight of this second wave of appointments lies in the departure from the Ministry of National Education of Amélie Oudéa-Castéra, replaced by the former Minister of Justice, Nicole Belloubet. Here is what to remember from the announcement of Gabriel Attal’s entire government.
1 Very weakened, Amélie Oudéa-Castéra loses National Education to Nicole Belloubet
This is the main information from this second wave of appointments from the Attal government. After a continuous month of various controversies, Amélie Oudéa-Castéra left National Education. Her great ministry was only ephemeral, but this former tennis player is keeping Sports in this Olympic year. “We saw that there was a disturbance, a discomfort, she explained it, she apologized. What matters most to us is that we can move forward with school”justified Gabriel Attal, on France 2. And the head of government added: “The conditions were no longer met immediately.” On X, Amélie Oudéa-Castéra, who had lost even the support of the presidential majoritysaid to himself “honored” for serving the educational community.
To replace her, a former minister of Edouard Philippe is making a comeback. Nicole Belloubetwho had been Keeper of the Seals from 2017 to 2020, therefore won the portfolio of National Education, she who was rector of the academies of Limoges and Toulouse between 1997 and 2005. Opposed to the job cuts, at the time, in this last academy, she then chose to slam the door. “She is a woman from the left, who was rector, who knows the ministry very well (…) She is a law professor. She was also a local elected official”greeted Gabriel Attal on France 2. A former member of the PS, this ex-member of the Constitutional Council indeed has the advantage of coming from the ranks of the left.
2 The political balances remain unchanged, despite the resounding exit of François Bayrou
His thunderous press release to AFP will have largely marked the wait for the complete list from the government of Gabriel Attal. “Without a deep agreement on the policy to follow, I could not agree to enter the government”, confides François Bayrou, Wednesday evening, while his name was circulating to take over National Education. The boss of MoDem, who did not warn anyone, then opened an open crisis with the majority. “Lunar”confides to franceinfo a Renaissance deputy, while a ministerial advisor castigates “a shopkeeper who wants to be president”.
Thursday evening, Gabriel Attal refused the term‘”incident” to qualify the Bayrou episode. The MoDem retains four positions, as it had under Elisabeth Borne. But with slight changes: Sarah El Haïry, then in charge of Biodiversity, takes the portfolio of Youth, Children and Families; Jean-Noël Barrot, formerly in digital, is now in charge of Europe. Philippe Vigier, then Minister of Overseas, disembarked and was replaced by Marina Ferrari, MP for Savoie, who took the digital portfolio. Marc Fesneau still remains Minister of Agriculture.
On the side of Horizons, the party of Edouard Philippe, there too, the balances are unchanged. The contingent is the same as under the Borne government: two ministers. Christophe Béchu remains Minister of Ecological Transition and Territorial Cohesion. Agnès Firmin Le Bodo, short-lived interim Minister of Health, arrived for the benefit of MP Frédéric Valletoux.
3 The arrival of deputies specializing in technical files
Once again, the executive finds itself drawing from the pool of majority parliamentarians to complete Attal’s team. Frédéric Valletoux, Horizons MP, is a recognized specialist in health issues. Although he is not a doctor, he had the time to discover the ecosystem by serving for eleven years as president of the French Hospital Federation (2011-2022), which brings together the majority of public health establishments. . During the Covid-19 crisis, Frédéric Valletoux had several times sounded the alarm on the situation of submerged hospitals.
Marina Ferrari, who comes from MoDem, and was elected deputy in 2022. She knows the digital sector very well, having kept her part-time executive position in a Savoyard start-up which designs applications for smartphones. It is “a field that I know because I worked ten years in digital, in two different companies”she confided, as soon as the announcement of her appointment became known, to the Dauphiné Libéré. In the position of the very important Housing portfolio, we find the Renaissance deputy Guillaume Kasbarian, recognized, but not appreciated by everyone (see below).
Marie Guévenoux, historical Renaissance executive and deputy for Essonne, first woman quaestor of the National Assembly, inherits the Overseas portfolio. This experienced politician is not, however, recognized on overseas issues, which already raises eyebrows. “This appointment leaves us a little stunned. We don’t understand, she doesn’t know anything about our territories”reacted to The 1st Davy Rimane, the Guyanese president of the Overseas delegation of the National Assembly.
4 The arrival of Guillaume Kasbarian at Housing makes the left and associations bristle
His name had been circulating for weeks for the position: Guillaume Kasbarian therefore inherits the Housing portfolio. MP Renaissance is no stranger to this sector in crisis; with Aurore Bergé, it was he who passed a law which toughened the penalties against squatters. The text, criticized for its firmness towards people who no longer pay their rent, was adopted in June 2023 by Parliament.
This appointment was immediately contested by part of the housing sector. On franceinfo, Pascal Brice, president of the federation of solidarity actors, sees in the arrival of Guillaume Kasbarian to this ministry “a real provocation”a word that recurs in the words of many left-wing elected officials. “It’s a terrible setback for all associations”, castigated the head of the environmentalist list in the European elections, Marie Toussaint. For Mathilde Panot, boss of LFI deputies, it is about“a spit in the faces of the 4 million poorly housed people and 330,000 homeless people”.
The language is more moderate outside the left and associations. But the wait is very high and the requests numerous: “I clearly call on him to renounce reforming the SRU law which would be a catastrophe for republican equality”for example declared to AFP Emmanuelle Cosse, president of the Social Union for Habitat.
5 Executives of the “left wing” leave the government for good
For them, the government adventure is officially over. Olivier Véran, Clément Beaune and Olivier Dussopt, often assimilated to the left wing of the government for seven years, for some, will not work alongside Gabriel Attal. If the first of them had confirmed his desire not to extend at Work or elsewhere, the second, who had opposed the government line on the immigration law, was not as definitive. Finally, Olivier Véran, at Health from 2020 to 2022, was replaced by Prisca Thevenot as spokesperson.
From now on, these ex-ministers will make their return to the benches of the National Assembly, in the company of Elisabeth Borne, who returned to her constituency on Thursday. What roles will these figures have in the majority? “We will have to manage them”sighed a Renaissance executive at the end of January, imagining their new life as deputies. “Olivier Véran, that would be hell. He would be the one to make the most of the mess. Olivier Dussopt will come back and cut heads in the opposition.” The question also arises of whether these elected officials will want to emancipate themselves within a left-wing group at the Palais Bourbon, the subject of recurring rumors at the start of the year.