Jean Castex

He was a member of The Republicans (LR) until 2020, when he joined La République En Marche! (LREM). Castex served for twelve years as mayor of the small town of Prades prior to his appointment as Prime Minister by President Emmanuel Macron. He resigned his post ahead of the 2022 legislative election. He has been president of the state-owned RATP since November 2022.

Jean Castex
Castex in 2020
President of RATP
Incumbent
Assumed office 28 November 2022
Preceded by	Catherine Guillouard
Prime Minister of France
In office 3 July 2020 – 16 May 2022
President	Emmanuel Macron
Preceded by	Édouard Philippe
Succeeded by	Élisabeth Borne
President of Conflent Canigó
In office 7 January 2015 – 3 July 2020
Preceded by	Office established
Succeeded by	Jean-Louis Jallat
Deputy Secretary-General to the President
In office 28 February 2011 – 15 May 2012
President	Nicolas Sarkozy
Preceded by	Xavier Musca
Succeeded by	Emmanuel Macron Nicolas Revel
Mayor of Prades
In office 18 March 2008 – 3 July 2020
Preceded by	Jean-François Denis
Succeeded by	Yves Delcor
Personal details
Born	(1965-06-25) 25 June 1965 (age 58) Vic-Fezensac, Gers, France
Political party	LREM/Renaissance (2020–present)
Other political affiliations	UMP (until 2015) The Republicans (2015–2020)
Spouse	Sandra Ribelaygue
Children	4
Alma mater	University of Toulouse 2 Sciences Po École nationale d'administration
Signature

Elected in 2008 as the mayor of Prades, Pyrénées-Orientales, Castex served under Health Minister Xavier Bertrand as chief of staff in François Fillon's ministry from 2010 until 2011. He succeeded Raymond Soubie as Secretary-General of the Élysée under President Nicolas Sarkozy between 2011 and 2012. In the UMP 2012 leadership primaries, he endorsed Fillon.

On the local level, Castex was a regional councillor of Languedoc-Roussillon from 2010 to 2015, and has served as department councillor of Pyrénées-Orientales since 2015. In September 2017, Castex was appointed interdepartmental delegate to the 2024 Olympics and Paralympics; he was also appointed as President of the National Sports Agency. On 2 April 2020, he was appointed coordinator of the phasing out of the lockdown implemented during the COVID-19 pandemic in France.

Castex was a member of The Republicans until early 2020, where he was regarded as being socially conservative. Following Édouard Philippe's resignation on 3 July 2020, Castex was appointed Prime Minister by President Emmanuel Macron. His appointment was described as a "doubling down on a course that is widely seen as centre-right in economic terms". Castex subsequently named his government on 6 July.

On 25 April 2022, following Macron's re-election as President, Castex agreed to resign as Prime Minister. Castex had previously pledged to do so if Macron was re-elected. Upon his resignation, Castex's government resigned as well, effective on 16 May.

After leaving office, Castex was nominated by his successor Élisabeth Borne as chairman of the board of directors of the Agence de financement des infrastructures de transport de France (AFITF). He leaves that post the 10 novembre 2022, to be nominated to the PDG of the RATP from 28 novembre 2022.

Castex, whose name means 'castle' in Gascon, hails from the Gers. He is married to Sandra Ribelaygue; they have four daughters.

A fluent Catalan speaker, Castex is regarded a defender of the Catalan identity in Southern France and other regional sensibilities. He is also friends with the ex-trades union leader Jean-Claude Mailly and the physician Patrick Pelloux, a former columnist at Charlie Hebdo.

Castex tested positive for COVID-19 on 23 November 2021.

• Castex government