New Leaders in France and Italy
Thursday, January 5th, 2017January 5, 2017
Last month, in December 2016, new prime ministers took office in two of Europe’s largest nations, France and Italy. In France, Bernard Cazeneuve, a member of the ruling Socialist Party, took over for Prime Minister Manuel Valls, who resigned to run for president in 2017. In Italy, Paolo Gentiloni replaced Matteo Renzi, who resigned as prime minister but retained his leadership of the ruling Democratic Party.
Bernard Cazeneuve was born on June 2, 1963, in Senlis, a small city in the northern Oise department (administrative district). Cazeneuve worked as a lawyer before taking on a political career. In 1994, he moved to the northwestern city of Octeville in the Manche department of Normandy. He was elected to the departmental council and, in 1995, he was elected mayor of Octeville. In 1997, Cazeneuve was also elected to the National Assembly, where he successfully petitioned for the merger of Octeville with the neighboring port city of Cherbourg in 2000. Cazeneuve then served as mayor of newly created Cherbourg-Octeville. In 2002, he lost his bid for reelection to the National Assembly.
Cazeneuve rejoined the National Assembly in 2007. In 2012, Cazeneuve ended his tenure as mayor of Cherbourg-Octeville and began a series of ministerial Cabinet positions under Socialist Party prime ministers Jean-Marc Ayrault and Manuel Valls. Cazeneuve served as interior minister from April 2014 until his appointment as prime minister on Dec. 6, 2016.
In Italy, Paolo Gentiloni took office as the nation continued to absorb large numbers of refugees fleeing poverty and violence in the Middle East and northern Africa. Within Italy, his government faced a financial crisis and political challenges from populist and far-right movements.
Gentiloni was born in Rome on Nov. 22, 1954. He studied political science before beginning a career in journalism. In 1993, he entered politics as spokesman for Francesco Rutelli, who became mayor of Rome in 1994. Gentiloni served in Rome’s city council until 2001, when he was elected to parliament. In 2002, he helped found the Daisy, a political party that merged with Democrats of the Left to form the current Democratic Party in 2007. Gentiloni served as foreign minister in Matteo Renzi’s government from 2014 until becoming prime minister on Dec. 12, 2016.