French President Emmanuel Macron has unveiled a gender-balanced cabinet in accordance with an earlier pledge, with 11 of 22 posts taken by women.
Sylvie Goulard is defence minister while Olympic fencing champion Laura Flessel is sports minister.
Bruno Le Maire is economy minister, Gerard Collomb is interior minister and François Bayrou is justice minister.
Mr Macron’s decision to pluck figures from across the political spectrum has sent the French right into disarray.
Mr Le Maire is a conservative moderate, Mr Collomb is the Socialist mayor of Lyon and Mr Bayrou is a veteran centrist.
Some 170 elected officials from the right were earlier criticized by hundreds of other lawmakers after they signed a statement backing Mr Macron.
One accused Mr Macron of “blowing up” the political landscape.
France’s new president will hope his team delivers a majority in parliamentary elections next month and furthers his aim of political renewal.
He delivered on his pledge of a cabinet of parity – though only one of the top five posts that of defence, went to a woman.
Other ministerial appointees include Jean-Yves Le Drian, in charge of defence under President François Hollande, who will become foreign minister. Nicolas Hulot, a well-known environmentalist, becomes ecology minister.
Longtime Macron supporter and campaign manager Richard Ferrand is rewarded with the territorial cohesion portfolio.
Marlène Schiappa, whose successful blog Maman Works saw her dubbed the “spokeswoman for working mums”, becomes junior minister for equality between women and men. BBC
