France’s newly-inaugurated centrist president, Emmanuel Macron, has named a relatively unknown right-wing politician as prime minister.
Edouard Philippe, mayor of the northern port city Le Havre, is not from the president’s own party but from the moderate wing of the centre-right Republicans party.
Alexis Kohler, Mr Macron’s new general secretary, announced the news from the steps of the Elysee Palace on Monday, the day after Mr Macron’s inauguration and after hours of intense speculation in France.
By choosing the 46-year-old, Macron - whose own party Republic on the Move (REM) is less than a year old - is following up on campaign promises to repopulate French politics with new faces.
The appointment of Philippe, a trained lawyer and an author of political thrillers, ticks several boxes for France's youngest president, ahead of June's parliamentary elections in France.
The pick could attract other Republicans to Macron's cause as the centrist president works to gain a parliamentary majority to pass promised economic reforms.
France's new prime minister is close to Alain Juppe, a former prime minister who campaigned for the French presidency but was beaten in a primary.
Reacting to Philippe's appointment Monday by President Emmanuel Macron, Juppe called the new prime minister "a man of great talent" with "all the qualities to handle the difficult job."
Philippe served as Juppe's campaign spokesman during the Republicans party primary. When Juppe was beaten, Philippe switched his support to Francois Fillon for the French presidency but then quit the campaign when prosecutors started investigating allegations that Fillon's family benefited illegally from cushy taxpayer-funded jobs.
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The mayor of Le Havre since 2010, Philippe previously worked as a director of public affairs for French nuclear group Areva from 2007 to 2010 and as a lawyer from 2004 to 2007 with New York City-based international law firm Debevoise and Plimpton LLP.
Additional reporting by Associated Press
