France: Two new Ministers in charge of Education and Higher Education & Research

Patrick Hetzel is appointed Minister for Higher Education and Research and Anne Genetet is appointed Minister for Education in the new French government, of which Michel Barnier is the Prime Minister, the French presidential bureau announces on 21/09/2024.

Alexandre Portier, a philosophy teacher, is appointed Minister Delegate responsible for Academic Success and Vocational Education.

The new government has been appointed two weeks after the new Prime Minister, Michel Barnier, was first nominated. He was also designated two months after the snap elections triggered by French President Emmanuel Macron in 06/2024, in response to the defeat of his party in the European elections of 06/06/2024, which saw the far-right party Rassemblement National take the lead with 31.37%.

While the second round of the snap elections, taking place on 07/07/2024, saw the leftist coalition Front Populaire gaining the most seats in the French parliament (193), in front of the presidential block Ensemble (166), the far-right and its allies (142) and the right (47), the new government is mainly made up of…