We had to wait a month, since the appointment of Gabriel Attal as Prime Minister, to finally know the complete list of members of the government. Thursday February 8, 2024, after 30 days of suspense, the names of the last ministers, delegate ministers and secretaries of state were revealed. Among the surprises, we especially note the ouster of Amélie Oudéa-Castera from the Ministry of National Education and Youth… after less than a month. Although she retains the Sports portfolio, the successive controversies which marked her time at rue de Grenelle will have got the better of her new position. But Nicole Belloubet’s predecessor is far from being the minister who had the most short-lived mandate in the history of the Fifth Republic! In a study published Monday February 12, 2024, the Statista institute compiled the list of ministers and secretaries of state who have served the shortest time since the creation of the regime in 1958.
>>> Discover here our slideshow of the most ephemeral ministers in France
Nine days, two weeks, a month… The lightning passages of the ministers of the Fifth Republic
Yes, two men share first place in this ranking… with only 9 days at their post! This is Thomas Thévenoud, who spent barely more than a week as Secretary of State in charge of Foreign Trade, the Promotion of Tourism and French People Abroad, under the presidency of François Hollande in 2014. His record is equaled by Léon Schwartzenberg, Minister Delegate for Health under François Mitterrand, in 1988. Next comes Jean-Jacques Servan-Schreiber, former Minister of Reforms under Valéry Giscard d’Estaing, remained in power for 13 days.
Edgard Pisani and Philippe Briand, respectively Minister of Housing in 1967 and Secretary of State for Regional Planning in 2004, who both stayed 14 days. The only woman on this list, Amélie Oudéa-Castera comes sixth, with 28 days spent at National Education at the start of 2024, tied with Michel Crépeau, who held the same time at the Ministry of Justice almost four decades earlier, in 1986. Finally, it is Alain Juppé who closes the ranking of the most ephemeral with his mandate as Minister of Ecology, Sustainable Development and Planning in 2007, which lasted 31 days.