The final list of ministers was the result of two weeks of intense consultation as newly-appointed prime minister Michel Barnier attempted to create a cross-party government.

Many high-profile names have declined to serve in his government – including long-serving finance minister Bruno Le Maire who announced he was quitting politics – while talks with the centre-left broke down.

The appointed ministers therefore broadly fall into two camps – Macronists or other centrists who had minor roles in previous governments or members of Barnier’s own party, the right-wing Les Républicains.

Here’s a look at who’s who;

Interior Minister – Bruno Retailleau. Probably the best-known of the new faces, Retailleau is currently in the Senate where he has been leader of the right-wing Les Républicains group since 2014.

His early career included work for the Puy du Fou theme park in his native Vendée – where as a keen horse-rider he took part in some of the park’s equestrian displays. He first entered politics as a member of the very right-wing/monarchist movement set up by Philippe de Villiers (owner of Puy du Fou) before switching to Nicolas Sarkozy’s UMP (forerunner to Les Républicains).

During his time in the Senate he has pushed right-wing and often anti-immigration policies. He sparked outcry with his comments about immigrants in the context of the 2022 riots.

Speaking about the rioters who were arrested, 90 percent of whom were French citizens, he said: “OK, they’re French, but these are French people in their official identity, and unfortunately for the second and third generations (of immigrants), there is a sort of regression towards their ethnic roots.”

He opposed both gay marriage and inscribing the right to abortion into the French constitution.

Finance Minister – Antoine Armand. Just 33 years old, Armand is a Macronist who had been chairman of parliament’s economic committee.

Rising to be finance minister therefore represents a huge step up, and he also faces probably the toughest job in the new government – attempting to devise a budget that will address France’s spiralling public deficit which is rapidly approaching crisis proportions.

The previous finance minister Bruno Le Maire had served since 2017, the only one of Macron’s original cabinet still in post. He announced last week that he was leaving politics, and is reported to have accepted a university teaching job in Switzerland.

Foreign minister – Jean-Noël Barrot. One of the hold-overs from the last government, Barrot basically gets a promotion from junior foreign minister (with responsibility for Europe) to full foreign minister.

A member of the centrist movement MoDem, he has had several junior minister roles under Macron. He began his political career as a local councillor for Yssingeaux in Haute-Loire – a post that had previously been held by both his father and his grand-father.

A fluent English-speaker, he has previously been an assistant professor at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and is a graduate of the ‘young leaders’ programme at the French-American Foundation.

Government spokesperson – Maud Bregeon. One of the most visible members of any government is the official spokesperson, and in France this is also a ministerial post.

Another Macronist takes this role, although a comparatively new face on the political scene. Bregeon, 33, was elected to parliament in 2022. This is her first ministerial role.

Health minister – Geneviève Darrieussecq. The member of Macron’s party has held several junior ministerial roles in previous governments – including minister for people with disabilities and veterans’ minister – but taking on the health portfolio represents a big step up.

After a break in the pattern with several recent health ministers, she represents a return to the tradition of France’s health minister being a qualified doctor – she practised as an allergy specialist in Mont-de-Marsan, south-west France, before entering politics. She is a grandmother of nine.

Education Minister – Anne Genetet. A Macronist who entered politics in 2017, this is her first ministerial role.

A qualified doctor, her first activism came when she moved to Singapore with her husband in 2005 and set up Help Agency, a consultancy to advise maids and their employers on health and legal matters.

Agriculture Minister – Annie Genevard. The Agriculture minister job is a high-profile one in France, a country that places great importance on its agriculture (and where farmers can, when angry, bring large parts of the country to a standstill.

New minister Annie Genevard is a member of Les Républicains and has been an interim party leader. A former teacher, she has been an MP since 2012.

Let’s hope the farmers don’t slip in any English words around her, she was the sponsor of a parliamentary bill protesting the use of English terms during the Paris Olympics and trying to get le skateboard replaced by planche a roulettes. She is also against the use of feminised job titles, so make sure you address her as Madame le ministre, not Madame la ministre.

Culture – Rachida Dati. In general this government is ‘all change’, but staying in post at the Culture Ministry is Dati. She was an anomaly in the Macron government, not being a member of a centrist party, and in this government will be closer to home, politically, as she hails from the right and served as Justice Minister under Nicolas Sarkoy.

In recent years she has been involved in an entertaining public feud with Paris mayor Anne Hidalgo, who she unsuccessfully ran against in 2020. When Dati was appointed culture minister Hidalgo responded by expressing her “sympathies to anyone working in the culture sector”. 

Environment – Agnès Pannier-Runacher. Another remainer is Macronist Pannier-Runacher who moves from agriculture to environment. It’s a role she knows well having served as one of two environment ministers in the ‘super ministry’ that Macron created to deal with France’s green transition and switch to Net Zero.

Defence Minister – Jean-Louis Thieriot. A member of Les Républicains, Thierot had a long career in local politics in Seine-et-Marne before joining the Assemblée nationale in 2018.

A fluent German-speaker, he has written several books on German and Franco-German history.

Armed Forces Minister – Sébastien Lecornu. Junior within the defence ministry is the armed forces minister, a role that will remain with Macronist Lecornu. Although the role is not especially high profile, Lecornu is regarded as being personally close to Macron, so his inclusion is something of a surprise.

Justice Minister – Didier Migaud. This is the closest thing to a leftist presence in the government after various figures on the left and centre-left declined to be involved in Barnier’s cabinet. Migaud was previously in the centre-left Parti Socialiste but is these days described as ‘diverse gauche’ – of the left but not belonging to a specific group or party.

The 72-year-old has in recent years held several important but non-governmental roles including president of the Cour des Comptes (financial court) and the authority on transparency in public life.

The cabinet is rounded out by a number of less high-profile ministerial roles. Overall the cabinet is gender balanced, but the ‘big four’ ministries (economy, foreign, defence and interior) are all held by men.

Overseas territories minister – Catherine Vautrin

Equalities minister – Paul Christophe

Housing minister – Valérie Létard

Employment Minister – Astrid Panosyan-Bouvet

Sports and youth minister – Gil Avérous

Higher Education minister – Patrick Hetzel

Public functions minister – Guillaume Kasbarian

Overseas territories minister – François-Noël Buffet

Public accounts minister – Laurent Saint-Martin

There are also a number of junior minister roles, known as ministres délégues, they are;

Benjamin Haddad – Europe Minister

Nathalie Delattre – Minister in charge of relations with Parliament

Marie-Claire Carrère-Gée – Minister in charge of government coordination

Françoise Gatel – Minister in charge of rural life, commerce and trades

François Durovray – Transport minister

Fabrice Loher – Minister of the seas and fishery

Nicolas Daragon – Security minister

Alexandre Porter – Minister in charge of adult education and training

Sophie Primas – Minister in charge of external commerce, also with responsibility for French people living overseas

Olga Givernet – Energy minister

Marc Ferracci – Industry minister

Marie-Agnès Poussier-Winsback – Minister in charge of social economy and profit-sharing

Marina Ferrari – Tourism minister

Agnès Canayer – Families minister

Originally slated for this role was Laurence Garnier, a plan that created a storm of protest due to her previous voting record.

She has voted against a ban on conversion therapy for LGBTQ people, she was one of just 72 (out of 780) lawmakers who opposed inscribing the right to abortion in the French constitution earlier this year and she was a key part of the Manif pour tous movement against gay marriage in 2013. Feminist and LGBTQ groups angrily denounced the idea of appointing her to the Families portfolio.

Emmanuel Macron is reported to have requested that she be removed from Banier’s initial list, and in the final announcement she instead takes the role of consumer affairs minister.

Othman Nasrou – Citizenship and anti-discrimination minister

Thani Mohamed Soilihi – International partnerships and Francophonie minister

Laurence Garnier – Consumer affairs minister

Salima Saa – Minister for gender equality

Clara Chappez – digital affairs minister