Édouard Philippe Facts for Kids

Quick facts for kids Édouard Philippe
Philippe in 2023

President of Le Havre Seine Métropole
Incumbent
Assumed office 5 July 2020
Preceded by	Jean-Baptiste Gastinne
Mayor of Le Havre
Incumbent
Assumed office 5 July 2020
Preceded by	Jean-Baptiste Gastinne
In office 23 October 2010 – 20 May 2017
Preceded by	Antoine Rufenacht
Succeeded by	Luc Lemonnier
Prime Minister of France
In office 15 May 2017 – 3 July 2020
President	Emmanuel Macron
Preceded by	Bernard Cazeneuve
Succeeded by	Jean Castex
Member of the National Assembly for Seine-Maritime's 7th constituency
In office 23 March 2012 – 15 June 2017
Preceded by	Jean-Yves Besselat
Succeeded by	Jean-Louis Rousselin
President of the Agglomeration community of Le Havre
In office 18 December 2010 – 25 June 2017
Preceded by	Antoine Rufenacht
Succeeded by	Luc Lemonnier

Personal details
Born	Édouard Charles Philippe (1970-11-28) 28 November 1970 (age 54) Rouen, France
Political party	Horizons (since 2021)
Other political affiliations	PS (1990s) UMP (2002–2015) LR (2015–2017)
Spouse	Édith Chabre
Children	3
Education	Lycée Janson-de-Sailly
Alma mater	Sciences Po École nationale d'administration
Profession	Lawyer
Signature

Édouard Charles Philippe (born 28 November 1970) is a French politician. He is currently the mayor of Le Havre, a city in France. He held this job before, from 2010 to 2017. From 2017 to 2020, he was the Prime Minister of France under President Emmanuel Macron.

Édouard Philippe is a lawyer. He used to be a member of political parties like the Union for a Popular Movement (UMP) and later the Republicans (LR). He was also a member of the National Assembly, which is like the French Parliament, from 2012 to 2017. After Emmanuel Macron became president in 2017, he chose Édouard Philippe to be his Prime Minister.

As Prime Minister, Édouard Philippe led a group of political parties. They won many seats in the French Parliament in the 2017 election. In 2021, after he was no longer Prime Minister, he started his own political party called Horizons. This party is now part of a larger group that helps govern France.

During his time as Prime Minister, he worked on changing laws about jobs and taxes. He also helped manage the government's response to the Yellow Vests protests and the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in France. He resigned as Prime Minister in July 2020 and became the mayor of Le Havre again.

His Early Life and School Days
Starting in Politics
- Becoming Prime Minister
Life Outside Politics
Awards and Recognition
- Foreign Honours
Books He Has Written
Images for kids
See also

His Early Life and School Days

Édouard Philippe was born in Rouen, France, in 1970. His parents were both teachers. He has one sister. His family also has a history of working as dockworkers. He grew up in a suburb of Rouen.

He went to several schools, including Michelet School and Jean-Texier College. He finished high school at the École de Gaulle-Adenauer in Bonn. After that, he studied at Sciences Po for three years, finishing in 1992. He then went to another important school called the École nationale d'administration (ÉNA) from 1995 to 1997. In 1994, he served in the military as an artillery officer.

After leaving ÉNA in 1997, he started working at the Council of State. This is a special court in France that helps with public laws. He focused on laws about government contracts.

Starting in Politics

In 2001, Édouard Philippe became the Deputy Mayor of Le Havre. He worked with Antoine Rufenacht, who was the mayor at the time. Philippe also helped with Jacques Chirac's election campaign in 2002. He then joined a new political party called the Union for a Popular Movement (UMP).

He worked for the UMP party until 2004. After that, he worked for a law firm and was elected to a regional council. In 2007, he briefly worked for Alain Juppé, who was a government minister. Then, he worked for a large company called Areva from 2007 to 2010.

In 2010, Édouard Philippe became the mayor of Le Havre. He also became the head of the group of towns around Le Havre. In 2012, he became a member of the National Assembly. He was reelected as Mayor of Le Havre in 2014. Even after he stopped being mayor in 2017 to become Prime Minister, he still kept a seat on the city council.

Becoming Prime Minister

Before the 2017 presidential election, Édouard Philippe supported Alain Juppé. When Juppé did not win, Philippe then supported François Fillon. However, he later left Fillon's campaign.

After Emmanuel Macron won the presidential election, many people thought Édouard Philippe might become Prime Minister. He was seen as a good choice because he was relatively young (46), from a different political group (centre-right), and knew a lot about local politics.

Polls showing how people felt about Édouard Philippe as Prime Minister.

On 15 May 2017, President Emmanuel Macron officially chose Édouard Philippe as the new Prime Minister.

Philippe (center) with Senate president Gérard Larcher (left) and then-National Assembly president François de Rugy (right) on Armistice Day, 11 November 2017.

In the 2017 French election, Macron's party, La République En Marche! (LREM), and its allies won a large number of seats in the Parliament. This meant Édouard Philippe's government had a strong majority. He formed his government on 21 May 2017.

On 4 July 2017, the Parliament voted to show they supported his government. He talked about his plans to help France's economy. These plans included raising taxes on cigarettes and cutting government spending. He also wanted to lower taxes for companies and make changes to job laws. These job law changes were a big promise from President Macron.

On 12 July 2017, Philippe announced a new plan for immigration. This plan aimed to make decisions on asylum requests faster and provide more housing for refugees. On 3 July 2020, Édouard Philippe resigned as Prime Minister. He then successfully ran for mayor of Le Havre again. Before the 2022 presidential election, he supported Macron for reelection. In September 2024, Édouard Philippe announced he would run for president in 2027.

Life Outside Politics

Philippe in 2021.

Édouard Philippe is married to Édith Chabre. She works as a director at the School of Law at Sciences Po. They have three children.

Since the mid-2010s, Édouard Philippe has had a short beard. He is the first French Prime Minister with a beard in a very long time. He is also one of the few Prime Ministers in the last century to be older than the president he served.

Édouard Philippe has shared that he has vitiligo. This is a skin condition that causes patches of skin to lose their color. It is responsible for a noticeable white patch of hair in his beard. In 2023, he also shared that he has alopecia areata, which is a condition that causes hair loss.