French president Emmanuel Macron on Thursday replaced his foreign minister but maintained other key figures in their posts, in a reshuffle that tilted his cabinet to the right and leaves all the top ministries in the hands of men, reports Yahoo! News.
The reshuffle followed the appointment this week of 34-year-old Gabriel Attal as prime minister, a move which Macron hopes will give his presidency new momentum.
The secretary general of Macron's Renaissance party Stephane Sejourne, 38, was named foreign minister in place of Catherine Colonna, although other key ministers including interior minister Gérald Darmanin and finance minister Bruno Le Maire kept their posts.
With defence minister Sebastien Lecornu also staying, this leaves all the top ministries in the hands of men, following the departure earlier this week of Elisabeth Borne as prime minister.
Sejourne was in a civil partnership with Attal, France's first openly gay prime minister, but their relationship is now believed to be over.
Rachida Dati, 58, a justice minister under the former presidency of Nicolas Sarkozy and member of the right-wing opposition Republicans party, was named culture minister in a surprise appointment.
Sports Minister Amelie Oudea-Castera, 45, a former French tennis champion who already faces an immense task overseeing the Olympic Games this summer in Paris, will now head a new super ministry combining sports and education, Attal's former department.
"What I want is action, action, action" and "results, results, results," Attal told TF1 television, praising the "energy" of his ministers who he said were "committed 200 percent to meet the expectations of the French".