Two Breton ministers are joining Michel Barnier’s new government announced this Saturday, September 21, 2024, both with the Minister for Partnership with the Territories and Decentralization: Françoise Gatel, Senator of Ille et Villaine is in charge of Rurality, Trade and Crafts. Fabrice Loher, Mayor of Lorient is in charge of the Sea and Fisheries.
Fabrice Loher, a persevering centrist
Fabrice Loher was born in Lorient in 1966. He grew up in Kerentrech, in the heart of the city, and attended high school in Dupuy de Lôme. He began his political career in the UDF in 1996, before graduating from the Paris Institute of Politics. He began his political career in the Île-de-France region, while persistently running in all elections in Lorient, a socialist stronghold since 1965, against successive mayors Jean Yves Le Drian, then Norbert Métairie. Fabrice Loher finally won the mayoralty in 2020, with the support of the UDI and Les Républicains, in a four-way race in which Jean-Yves Le Drian had supported him to the detriment of the LREM candidate, facing a left divided between the candidacies of the environmentalist Damien Girard and Bruno Blanchard.
Lorient, a city facing the sea
It is impossible to be mayor of Lorient without being immersed in maritime issues, whether it be the fishing port of Keroman, the commercial port, defense with Naval Group or ocean racing, which gained considerable momentum during the first part of Fabrice Loher’s term.
This is the second time that a mayor of Lorient has joined a government, after Jean-Yves Le Drian, former Minister of Defense under François Hollande, then Minister of Foreign Affairs under Emmanuel Macron.
Will Fabrice Loher keep his seat as mayor?
Will Fabrice Loher keep his seat as mayor? The texts allow him to do so. But if not, the question is not so premature. The current first deputy took up her duties recently. Morgane Christien was elected to this position on May 30, following the death of Armel Tonnerre.
