When French President Emmanuel Macron came to power in 2017, his centrist party comprised a careful mix of figures from both the left and right. This week's cabinet reshuffle has seen that balance upended as newly minted Prime Minister Gabriel Attal begins leading a government that's firmly tilted to the right.
Macron is hoping that 34-year-old Attal, France's youngest and first openly gay prime minister, will give his presidency new momentum.
The appointment of Attal and the reshuffle are seen as crucial for Macron, who cannot stand again in 2027 presidential elections – which will represent far-right Marine Le Pen's best-ever chance to take the Elysée.
Major changes include the naming of MEP Stephane Sejourne, Attal's former civil partner, as foreign minister, along with the pilfering of Rachida Dati – a key figure under former leader Nicolas Sarkozy – from the opposition Republicans party.
Dati, who was justice minister from 2007 to 2009, takes over the job of culture minister from Abdul Malak – a leftwinger who publicly diverged from Macron on several issues, notably recent immigration reforms and accusations of sexual assault against actor Gérard Depardieu.
The other key ministers – Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin, Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire and Defence Minister Sebastien Lecornu – keep their posts.
'Sarkozy IV'
Left-wing politicians were quick to joke about the conservative tilt calling the cabinet the new "Sarkozy IV" due to the recruitment of Dati as well as Catherine Vautrin, also from the right, who takes charge of the newly merged labour and health and solidarity ministries.
These were previously run by Olivier Dussopt, Agnès Firmin Le Bodo and Aurore Bergé respectively.
An ex-member of the Republican party (LR), Vautrin was barred from Matignon in 2022 for having participated in protests against a law allowing same-sex marriage – a position she has since said she regrets taking.
Vautrin is to be seconded by Agnès Pannier-Runacher, the incumbent minister of energy transition – who will act as deputy minister in charge of health.
The entries of Vautrin and Dati confirm "the right-wing anchoring of the Macronie, which was already very clear to the French, in particular, with the two symbolic reforms on pensions and immigration", Mathieu Gallard, of pollster Ipsos, told French news agency AFP.
Pugnacious, popular
"It's a huge political coup, no one had seen that coming," former Sarkozy minister Roselyne Bachelot said of 58-year-old Dati's appointment to the Culture Ministry.
She described Dati as "hugely pugnacious", adding that she was also hugely popular with ordinary people.
By poaching a big name from conservative ranks, Macron is moving away from a previous tendency to put technocrats in cabinet roles.
Observers say it also shows the president is gearing up for political battle ahead of European parliament elections in June.
Mayor of the Paris seventh district since 2008, Dati was in 2021 charged with corruption over consulting services to a subsidiary of Renault-Nissan, charges she has denied.
Attal insisted this posed no problem, pointing to the "presumption of innocence" and praised Dati as a "woman of commitment" who "all her life fought to obtain what she wanted".
Analysts have suggested she will use the culture portfolio as a stepping stone in the race to become Paris mayor.
Eric Ciotti, leader of the right-wing Republicans party, on Thursday sais Dati would be thrown out of the party, accusing her of "placing herself outside our political family".
Socialist leader Olivier Faure likened the new choices to "Sarkozy dinosaurs", and bemoaned the new government's lack of political "regeneration".
Tightened cabinet
The slimmed-down cabinet now has 11 ministries and 14 ministers, with two "super ministries" with combined portfolios.
There are seven male ministers and four female ministers, excluding Attal himself, as well as three junior ministers who are all women. The junior ministers are expected to be announced next week.
Matilde Panot, the leader of the hard-left France Unbowed (LFI) MPs in parliament, denounced the "concentration of portfolios" and the "relegation of women" to secondary roles.
She also called the reshuffle the "endless recycling of the monarch's inner circle".
The other "super ministry" will be run by current Sports Minister Amelie Oudea-Castera, who will be in charge of sports and education – Attal's former portfolio. All of this on top of overseeing the Olympic Games this summer in Paris.
Teachers unions are worried about having "a part-time minister" with little elbow room to make changes.
"She (Oudea Castera) will manage sport and he (Attal) manages education," Sophie Vénétitay, general secretary of Snes-FSU union told French news agency AFP.
Attal praised the "energy" of his ministers who he said were "200 percent committed" to meet the expectations of the French.
"What I want is action, action, action" and "results, results, results", he told TF1 television.
