Keyword: Benjamin Griveaux

French health minister Agnès Buzyn, who has been leading the national response to the coronavirus epidemic, stepped down on Sunday to become President Macron's LREM party candidate for mayor of Paris after former government spokesman Benjamin Griveaux, originally appointed for the bid, quit on Friday over revelations of a sex video he purportedly features in. 

Petr Pavlensky, a dissident Russian activist granted asylum in France in 2017, and an unnamed woman were being questioned in police custody this weekend as part of an investigation into a complaint for violation of personal privacy after explicit sexual images and texts were posted on the internet forcing President Emmanuel Macron’s LREM party candidate in Paris mayoral elections to stand down on Friday. 

Benjamin Griveaux announcing he was stepping down from the Paris mayoral elections, February 14th. © Lionel Bonaventure / AFP

Benjamin Griveaux, 42, the candidate for mayor of Paris chosen by President Emmanuel Macron’s LREM party, stood down from the race on Friday after the online publication by a controversial Russian artist living in asylum in France of sexually explicit videos featuring the former government spokesman. Griveaux’s withdrawal is a major blow for the French president’s ruling party, already struggling in opinion surveys ahead of nationwide municipal elections in March.

With his long hair, bowties and ornate spider brooches, top mathematician Cédric Villani quickly became a popular politician as an MP in 2017.

A work by artist Pascal Boyart, alias PBOY, in homage to the 'yellow vests', on the walls of Paris, January 7th 2019. © Reuters

On Monday January 7th the French prime minster Édouard Philippe announced plans to boost the array of security powers at the state's disposal with, in particular, a new law against rioters and undeclared demonstrations, plus preventative targeting of protestors presumed to be violent. Mediapart publishing editor Edwy Plenel points out that the prime minister did not utter a word about police violence, demonstrating that in making this repressive decision the government has turned its back on the sometimes vague democratic demands made by the 'yellow vest' protestors.

The official photo of the new French governemnt, June 2017. © Elysée

Following the recent Parliamentary elections President Emmanuel Macron has formed a new government under the same prime minister Édouard Philippe. However, what was supposed to be a minor technical change to the government has become rather larger in scale after the departure of four ministers in response to potential scandals. The result is a government that gives us a glimpse of how the new centrist president intends to balance his administration between the Left and the Right of the political spectrum. Stéphane Alliès, Christophe Gueugneau, Mathieu Magnaudeix and Mathilde Mathieu report.