Édouard Philippe

Édouard Charles Philippe (French: [edwaʁ ʃaʁl(ə) filip] ; born 28 November 1970) is a French politician serving as mayor of Le Havre since 2020, previously holding the office from 2010 to 2017. He was prime minister of France from 2017 to 2020 under President Emmanuel Macron.

A lawyer by occupation, Philippe is a former member of the Union for a Popular Movement (UMP), which later became The Republicans (LR). He served as a member of the National Assembly from 2012 to 2017, representing Seine-Maritime's 7th constituency. After being elected to the presidency on 7 May 2017, Macron appointed him Prime Minister. Philippe subsequently appointed his government on 17 May. He was succeeded by Jean Castex before his reelection to the mayorship in Le Havre.

As prime minister, Philippe led the centrist LREM–MoDem coalition into the 2017 legislative election which returned his government with a sizeable majority in the National Assembly. In 2021, a year after the end of his premiership, Philippe founded the centre-right Horizons party, which then became part of the governing Ensemble coalition in the context of the 2022 legislative election.

During his time in office, Philippe oversaw the passage of a package of labour law and taxation system reforms as part of Macron's self-proclaimed "pro-business" agenda. He also led the controversial police response to the yellow vests crisis starting in late 2018, and later became a prominent figure in leading its early response to the COVID-19 pandemic in France, implementing a 55-day national lockdown starting on 17 March 2020. He resigned as prime minister on 3 July 2020, shortly after the second round of the 2020 municipal elections.

On 3 September 2024, Philippe announced his candidacy for the 2027 presidential election.

In 2024, the French National Financial Prosecutor’s Office opened an investigation into Édouard Philippe on suspicion of embezzlement of public funds, favouritism in public procurement, illegal conflict of interest, and unlawful exaction of public funds in connection with his tenure as mayor of Le Havre. In 2026, an investigating judge was appointed to oversee the case.