Jean Castex

Jean Castex (French: [ʒɑ̃ kastɛks]; born 25 June 1965) is a French politician serving as Prime Minister of France since 3 July 2020.[1]

Jean Castex
Castex in 2020
Prime Minister of France
Incumbent
Assumed office 3 July 2020
President	Emmanuel Macron
Preceded by	Édouard Philippe
President of the Community of communes Conflent Canigó
In office 7 January 2015 – 3 July 2020
Preceded by	Office created
Succeeded by	Jean-Louis Jallat
Deputy Secretary General of the Presidency
In office 28 February 2011 – 15 May 2012
President	Nicolas Sarkozy
Preceded by	Xavier Musca
Succeeded by	Emmanuel Macron Nicolas Revel
Mayor of Prades
In office 18 March 2008 – 3 July 2020
Preceded by	Jean-François Denis
Succeeded by	Yves Delcor (interim)
Personal details
Born	(1965-06-25) 25 June 1965 Vic-Fezensac, France
Nationality	France
Political party	Union for a Popular Movement (until 2015) The Republicans (2015–2020) LREM (since 2020)
Alma mater	University of Toulouse 2 Sciences Po École nationale d'administration
Signature

A former member of The Republicans (LR), Castex served as Mayor of Prades, a provincial town in Southern France, for twelve years until his appointment as Prime Minister by President Emmanuel Macron. Castex earned plaudits for his handling of the Coronavirus crisis.[2]

Early life and education

Born at Vic-Fezensac in southwestern France and brought up in the Catholic tradition, his grandfather was Senator Marc Castex and another family member was the distinguished academic, Professor Pierre-Georges Castex.[3]

Castex attended Sciences-Po (Paris Institute of Political Studies) graduating in 1986, before pursuing further studies at the École nationale d'administration (ENA's "Victor Hugo" Class of 1991), before joining the Court of Audit becoming one of France's senior civil servants.

Political career

Elected in 2008 as Mayor of Prades, Pyrénées-Orientales,[4] from 2010 until 2011, Castex served under Health Minister Xavier Bertrand as Chief of Staff in François Fillon's ministry.[5] Succeeding Raymond Soubie as Secretary-General under President Nicolas Sarkozy between 2011 and 2012; he was replaced by Emmanuel Macron. In the UMP 2012 leadership primaries, he endorsed Fillon.[6]

On the local level, Castex was a regional councillor of Languedoc-Roussillon from 2010 to 2015, and has served as department councillor of Pyrénées-Orientales since 2015.

In September 2017, Castex was appointed interdepartmental delegate to the 2024 Olympics and Paralympics; he was also appointed as President of the National Sports Agency.[7] On 2 April 2020, he was appointed coordinator of the phasing out of the lockdown (confinement) implemented in France during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Castex was a member of The Republicans until early 2020, where he was regarded as being socially conservative.[8][9] Following Édouard Philippe's resignation on 3 July 2020, Castex was appointed Prime Minister by President Emmanuel Macron.[2]

Personal life

Castex, who has a southwestern French accent, is married to Sandra Ribelaygue;[10] they have four daughters.[11]

A fluent Catalan speaker, Castex is regarded a defender of the Catalan identity in Southern France and other regional sensibilities.[12] He is also friends with the ex-trades union leader Jean-Claude Mailly and the physician Patrick Pelloux, a former columnist at Charlie Hebdo.[10]

Honours

Ribbon bar	Honour	Date and comment
	Chevalier of the Legion of Honour	2020
	Grand Cross of the National Order of Merit	2020 – ex officio; 2006 - Chevalier

See also

• Castex Government

References

1. Mallet, Victor. "Macron names Jean Castex as new French prime minister". www.ft.com. Financial Times.
2. "French president names Jean Castex, who coordinated France's virus reopening strategy, as new prime minister". Associated Press. 3 July 2020.
3. www.academiesciencesmoralesetpolitiques.fr
4. Paul Turban (7 April 2020). "Coronavirus: who is Jean Castex, the "Mr. Deconfinement" of the government?". RTL Group.
5. Michel Rose (July 3, 2020), Factbox: Who is France's new prime minister, Jean Castex? Reuters.
6. Copé, Fillon et l'UMP : qui soutient qui ? L'Obs, October 17, 2012.
7. "Qui est Jean Castex, le nouveau Premier ministre?". BFMTV (in French). Retrieved 2020-07-03.
8. "Macron appoints new PM after Philippe resigns". BBC News. 2020-07-03. Retrieved 2020-07-03.
9. "Jean Castex named as new French prime minister". The Telegraph. 3 July 2020.
10. Arnaud Focraud (July 3, 2020), Les multiples vies de Jean Castex, nouveau Premier ministre d'Emmanuel Macron Le Journal du Dimanche.
11. Braun, Elisa. "5 things to know about France's new PM Jean Castex". POLITICO. Retrieved 2020-07-04.
12. "Le Premier ministre français, défenseur de l'identité catalane". Equinox (in French). 2020-07-03. Retrieved 2020-07-04.

External links

• Curriculum vitae

Political offices
Preceded by Jean-François Denis	Mayor of Prades 2008–2020	Succeeded by Yves Delcor
Preceded by Xavier Musca	Deputy Secretary General of the Presidency of the Republic 2011–2012	Succeeded by Emmanuel Macron
		Succeeded by Nicolas Revel
New office	President of the Community of communes Conflent Canigó 2008–2020	Succeeded by Jean-Louis Jallat
Preceded by Édouard Philippe	Prime Minister of France 2020–present	Incumbent
Order of precedence
Preceded by Emmanuel Macron as President of the Republic	Order of precedence in France as Prime Minister 2020–present	Succeeded by Gérard Larcher as President of the Senate