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Source: Laurent Vu CC BY-SA 3.0/Wiki Commons

Rachida Dati

France’s culture minister Rachida Dati officially stepped down from her position to shift her focus to her campaign to become the next mayor of Paris.

Dati said Wednesday evening in an interview with TV station BFMTV that she had sent her resignation letter to President Emmanuel Macron and he accepted.

Her replacement has not yet been appointed, but is expected to be announced in the coming days.

Dati has been France’s culture minister since January 2024 and has managed to survive a series of cabinet reshuffles amid more widespread government shake-ups.

Since she took the helm, she has been outspoken in her support for expanding film distribution into all regions, particularly rural areas, and bolstering arts and culture education, including joining forces with the country’s minister of education for a plan to revive film education programmes in schools.

She has also continued to vocally champion France’s film financing model, specifically the role of the CNC when the organisation came under attack from right-wing politicians. She has also strongly advocated to reform the country’s public broadcasting and create a joint holding company bringing together France Télévisions, Radio France and the National Audiovisual Institute (Ina). But this has faced challenges and has not come to fruition.

“The coming weeks will be decisive for Paris and my candidacy. Paris is the fight of my life,” she said of her decision. “I will change Paris and the life of Parisians.”

In a statement, Macron’s office said the president “thanked her for her valuable work on behalf of the French people over the past two years and offered her his full support in her ongoing efforts.” Paris’ municipal elections will be held on March 15 ahead of a second round on March 22.

Separately, Dati is still set to stand trial in September for corruption charges alongside former Renault-Nissan boss Carlos Ghosn. 

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