France’s Macron Picks New Prime Minister to Reinvent Presidency

France’s Macron Picks New Prime Minister to Reinvent Presidency
File photo of Jean Castex leaving after a video conference with the French president and French mayors at the Elysee Palace in Paris, France, on May 19, 2020. Gonzalo Fuentes/Pool/AFP via Getty Images
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PARIS—President Emmanuel Macron named Jean Castex, a top civil servant and local mayor who orchestrated France’s coronavirus lockdown exit strategy, as his new prime minister on Friday as he acted to reinvent his administration and win back voters.

Castex, 55, hails from the centre-right of French politics and served for two years as the second-highest ranking official in the Elysee Palace during Nicolas Sarkozy’s presidency.