Marrakech – Franco-Moroccan politician Rachida Dati stepped down as France’s Minister of Culture on Wednesday, announcing her resignation to focus on her bid for the Paris mayoral race, less than three weeks before the first round of municipal elections on March 15.
“Paris is for me a lifelong commitment,” Dati said in a statement issued by her team. “I have the energy, the determination, and the will to transform the city and meet the challenges ahead.” She confirmed the resignation live on BFMTV, saying she had formally submitted it to President Emmanuel Macron.
Dati, 60, had held the Culture portfolio since January 2024, surviving four prime ministers and every cabinet reshuffle in between – making her one of only two ministers to have endured that long through the successive Attal, Barnier, Bayrou, and Lecornu governments.
An ambivalent legacy
Her tenure, however, was marked more by controversy than by cultural legacy. The ministry’s budget was cut by €200 million in the 2026 finance bill, a blow widely felt across the performing arts sector.
The reform of public broadcasting, which she championed throughout her time in office, was ultimately dropped and no longer figures on the National Assembly’s agenda. Her ministry was also caught in the fallout from a high-profile robbery at the Louvre, which exposed significant security failures at the world’s most visited museum.
Supporters point to her efforts to expand cultural access in rural areas and preserve national heritage. Critics counter that funding cuts to subsidized performance arts and creative sectors undermined those claims.
Away from cultural policy, Dati faces a corruption and influence-peddling trial set for autumn, stemming from the Carlos Ghosn affair. Separately, she faces questions over undeclared remuneration linked to GDF Suez and France Télécom, as well as accusations of illegal lobbying and links to the Azerbaijani government.
On the campaign trail, Dati is backed by the center-right LR and MoDem parties. A recent Ifop poll placed her at 30% in the first round, two points behind left-wing candidate Emmanuel Grégoire at 32%. The same poll showed her winning the second round in four out of five projected scenarios.
Before her resignation, Dati made headlines in February 2025 when she became the first French minister to travel to Morocco’s southern provinces, visiting Tarfaya, Laayoune, and Dakhla.
The trip came six months after President Macron officially recognized Moroccan sovereignty over Western Sahara in a letter to King Mohammed VI.
In Laayoune, she met members of an association working to establish a French cultural institute. In Dakhla, she inaugurated a branch of a Moroccan higher education institution offering training in audiovisual and cinema fields.
Dati had long called for France to align with Morocco’s position on the Sahara, making the visit both a personal and a diplomatic milestone.
