Jean Castex replaces Édouard Philippe as French prime minister
by Kim Willsher and Jon Henley in Paris from on (#55AQE)
Macron gambles on reshuffle to reset troubled presidency, with popular PM departing
Edouard Philippe has been replaced as prime minister after seeing France through the coronavirus crisis, as President Emmanuel Macron embarked on a high-stakes reshuffle to set a new course" for the last two years of his mandate.
Macron named Jean Castex, 55, a career civil servant from the centre-right of French politics who coordinated France's successful exit from lockdown and is widely known as Monsieur Deconfinement", as Philippe's successor. The Elysee Palace said Castex would form the next government.
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