Jean Castex


Jean Castex is a French politician serving as Prime Minister of France since 3 July 2020.
A former member of The Republicans, 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.

Early life and education

Born at Vic-Fezensac in southwestern France and brought up in the Catholic tradition, his grandfather was Senator :fr:Marc Castex|Marc Castex and another family member was the distinguished academic, Professor Pierre-Georges Castex.
Castex attended Sciences-Po graduating in 1986, before pursuing further studies at the École nationale d'administration, 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, from 2010 until 2011, Castex served under Health Minister Xavier Bertrand as Chief of Staff in François Fillon's ministry. 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.
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. On 2 April 2020, he was appointed coordinator of the phasing out of the lockdown 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. Following Édouard Philippe's resignation on 3 July 2020, Castex was appointed Prime Minister by President Emmanuel Macron.

Personal life

Castex, who has a southwestern French accent, is married to Sandra Ribelaygue; they have four daughters.
A fluent Catalan speaker, Castex is regarded a defender of the Catalan identity in Southern France and other regional sensibilities. He is also friends with the ex-trades union leader Jean-Claude Mailly and the physician Patrick Pelloux, a former columnist at Charlie Hebdo.

Honours