France's left-wing Nouveau Front Populaire alliance has nominated Lucie Castets, finance director for Paris City Hall, as its candidate for the position of prime minister, in a joint press release issued on the evening of Tuesday, July 23, almost an hour before President Emmanuel Macron was due to speak on television. Castets, a figure unknown to the general public, is an economist and graduate of the Ecole Nationale d'Administration school for top civil servants.
The four parties in the alliance – La France Insoumise (LFI, radical left), the Socialists, the Greens and Communists – had been arguing over the name of a candidate for two weeks. In the joint statement, they said Castets is a "leader of associative struggles for the defense and promotion of public services, actively engaged in the battle of ideas against setting the retirement age at 64," referring to an issue that led to widespread protests in France in 2023. The parties asserted their "full commitment at her side in the government she will lead."
This is a developing story.