New minister of culture for France

French president Emmanuel Macron has appointed Roselyne Bachelot as the country’s new minister of culture as part of the new government under prime minister Jean Castex.

Roselyne Bachelot

Bachelot replaces Franck Reister, who served in the role under former prime minister Édouard Philippe and who has now been moved to a deputy ministerial role in charge of external trade under Europe and foreign affairs minister Jean-Yves Le Drian.

Bachelot previously served as minister of ecology under President Jacques Chirac in 2002, and subsequently as minister of health under Nicolas Sarkozy before becoming minister of solidarity and social cohesion in 2010.

She quit politics in 2012 for a career in TV, becoming co-presenter of Grand 8, aired on TV channel D8 between 2012 and 2016, and presenter of 100% Bachelot on RMC in 2016.

Bachelot, known for a strong interest in opera, takes the reins of the culture ministry at a time of unprecedented crisis in the arts as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. France’s lockdown has seen revenues across the culture sector fall by an estimated 25% compared with the same period last year. The government unveiled a €5 billion package of measures to assist the sector at the end of March.