As Maria Miller burns her business cards, David Cameron is running short of women in the Cabinet. Could he use some advice from the colourful François Hollande? The President of France is known for his fondness for females — and a penchant for crash helmets — but a recent appointment in his government may prove embarrassing for our Prime Minister.
Axelle Lemaire has won rapid promotion as minister for digital economy, following a long career representing French citizens living in Britain — more than 400,000 of them — in the National Assembly.
The top tier of French politics is looking far healthier than the British. It is 50-50 male/female at Cabinet level. Even Hollande’s former partner, Ségolène Royal, mother to his four children, just made it as environment minister.
Lemaire previously worked as a researcher in the House of Commons. The Londoner is also pleased to report that her grasp of the language is far superior to many of the privately educated homegrown politicos.
Keen to see if France’s digital economy is in safe hands, we called Lemaire’s former boss, Denis MacShane, and received a glowing reference. “I introduced her to François Hollande when he came to London in March 2012,” MacShane recalls. “I said to him, ‘This is Axelle Lemaire, François, who is a future president of France’. ‘Not before me, I hope, Denis,’ he replied.”
Her adopted home of London, however, doesn’t make her an easy target. “She knows and likes Britain, so this is a major new France-UK political link,” MacShane explained, “but Axelle is a convinced pro-European even if she wants a smarter Europe.” Liberté, Egalité, Sororité.
