Rising Star Naïma Moutchou Breaks Barriers in French Government

The 44-year-old lawyer and MP Naïma Moutchou has been appointed to this position. This woman of Moroccan origin, close to Édouard Philippe, stands out for her profile within her party, Horizons. Daughter of a nursing assistant who arrived from Morocco in 1961 and a stay-at-home mother, she grew up in public housing in Eaubonne (Val-d’Oise) in a family of six children.

A right-wing voter, she became involved in 2017 for Emmanuel Macron and was elected MP for Val-d’Oise. She quickly climbed the ranks in the National Assembly, becoming vice-president in 2022. In 2021, she had joined Édouard Philippe to co-found his party, Horizons, of which she became spokesperson and project manager.

In Parliament, Naïma Moutchou has distinguished herself by her firm positions on security issues, fighting against urban rodeos and squatting. She has notably become a proponent of the return of minimum sentences, a measure from the Sarkozy era, by trying to reintroduce a minimum sentence of one year in prison for repeat offenders guilty of violence against law enforcement.

Her entry into the government was expected. In early October, she had deliberately renounced running again for the vice-presidency of the National Assembly. A strategic "step aside" to make herself available, even as her "rigor" and "natural authority" were praised by her peers.