France’s conservative culture minister Rachida Dati announced on Wednesday, February 25th she had submitted her resignation in order to launch her bid for mayor of Paris. Dati called the municipal elections starting in two and a half weeks “the battle of my life.”
Having handed her resignation to President Emmanuel Macron on Wednesday morning, she told broadcaster BFMTV
I am going to change Paris and the lives of Parisians.
The outspoken minister had survived a series of cabinet reshuffles since January 2024—despite facing corruption charges for which she will appear in court in the autumn.
She claimed that amid budget cuts she had managed to limit damage to the cultural sector during her time as minister. But her tenure was marked by turbulence at the Louvre Museum, including industrial action by staff and a dramatic jewellery heist last October.
