Jean Castex

Elected in 2000 as Mayor of Prades, Pyrénées-Orientales,[2] from 2010 until 2011, Castex served under Health Minister Xavier Bertrand as Chief of Staff in François Fillon's ministry.[3] He succeeded Raymond Soubie as Secretary-General of the Élysée under President Nicolas Sarkozy between 2011 and 2012. In the UMP 2012 leadership primaries, he endorsed Fillon.[4]

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.[5] 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.[6][7] Following Édouard Philippe's resignation on 3 July 2020, Castex was appointed Prime Minister by President Emmanuel Macron.[8] Castex subsequently named his government on 6 July.[9][10]

Castex, who has a southwestern French accent, is married to Sandra Ribelaygue;[11] they have four daughters.[12]

A fluent Catalan speaker, Castex is regarded a defender of the Catalan identity in Southern France and other regional sensibilities.[13] He is also friends with the ex-trades union leader Jean-Claude Mailly and the physician Patrick Pelloux, a former columnist at Charlie Hebdo.[11]

• Castex Government

• Curriculum vitae