AUDREY AZOULAY – The name of Audrey Azoulay, former Minister of Culture, is whispered among the supporters of Emmanuel Macron for the succession of Jean Castex to Matignon. Serious assumption?
Prime Minister Jean Castex is expected to resign in the coming days. Who to replace him at Matignon? The rumors are rife. Among all these noises, one hypothesis stands out: that of Audrey Azoulay, the former Minister of Culture of François Hollande. The one who is currently Director General of Unesco should she be considered as a serious candidate for the post of Prime Minister? This is what several media have been saying since Wednesday, May 11, starting with Le Canard Enchainé and RMC.
Who is Audrey Azoulay?
A graduate of Paris-Dauphiné University, Sciences Po Paris and then ENA, Audrey Azoulay joined the senior civil service in 2000: she was appointed civil administrator, assigned to the general secretariat of the government. Later, she joined the National Center for Cinema and Animated Image (CNC), where she held several positions, until being appointed Deputy Managing Director.
In 2006, she declined an offer from Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin to join his cabinet. Close to François Hollande, she became his advisor in 2014, in charge of culture and communication. She was then appointed Minister of Culture in 2016, in the government of Manuel Valls. Support of the latter during the primaries of the Socialist Party in 2016, she does not decide before the 1st round of the 2017 presidential election, but calls to vote Emmanuel Macron in the 2nd round. Recommended by François Hollande in 2015 to take the direction of Unesco, his candidacy is supported by Emmanuel Macron after his election. She opted for this position in 2017, and was re-elected in 2021.
Where does the hypothesis of an appointment of Audrey Azoulay at Matignon come from?
The name of Audrey Azoulay appeared simultaneously with two of our colleagues: Wednesday, May 11, the Canard Enchaîné devotes a box to his possible appointment to Matignon. The same day, RMC journalists issued the same prognosis. They are based on indiscretions collected during the great day of training of the candidates of the presidential majority in the legislative elections, Tuesday, May 10 in Aubervilliers. In the middle of this digest of macronie, RMC affirms that two names come back for Matignon: that of Audrey Azoulay and that of Marisol Touraine. For the moment, Audrey Azoulay has not commented on this hypothesis.
Does Audrey Azoulay have the profile of a potential Prime Minister of Emmanuel Macron?
The profile of Audrey Azoulay corresponds in any case to two criteria put forward by those close to Emmanuel Macron. According to several sources, the President of the Republic would like to appoint a woman, 30 years after Edith Cresson’s short stint at Matignon. He would have already suffered the refusal of two women for this position: Valérie Rabault and Véronique Bédagu. In addition, during his campaign between the two rounds, Emmanuel Macron hinted that he wanted to anchor his second term more to the left than the first, speaking moreover of appointing a head of government in charge of the ecology. However, if she has never been inserted in the PS, Audrey Azoulay was a member of the socialist government of Manuel Valls, and close to François Hollande.
When she was appointed to the Ministry of Culture in 2016, moreover, several observers compared Audrey Azoulay to … Emmanuel Macron: both went directly from adviser to François Hollande to member of the government, without ever having been elected before, and without even belonging to the Socialist Party. Another link with the current executive, Audrey Azoulay is a former classmate at the ENA of two members of the current government: Agnès Pannier-Runacher, Minister Delegate for Industry, and above all Alexis Kohler, Secretary General of the Presidency of the Republic, and considered one of the closest and former collaborators of Emmanuel Macron. The latter would therefore have no trouble finding the number of Audrey Azoulay, if the idea came to him to offer him the post of Prime Minister.