The former lobbyist, who became Emmanuel Macron's strategy and communications advisor in September 2022, has been on his way out in recent weeks. Frédéric Michel announced on Thursday December 14th that he is leaving his position after fifteen months at the Elysée and joining MCH Group, a Swiss direct marketing group that runs major contemporary art fairs.
“It was a real honor to work for President Macron,” the head of state’s special adviser on communications and strategy said in a message in English on his LinkedIn page. “It was often difficult, whether in national or international affairs, but also extremely rewarding, to work with such a leader and help advance much-needed reforms and address international crises,” added the one who spoke during his stay at the Elysée social and political crises in connection with the pension reform, the urban unrest of the summer, the horrors of the relative majority in the National Assembly or even the conflicts in Ukraine and between Israel and Hamas.
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The latter spent most of his professional career in the Anglo-Saxon region, in the spheres of New Labor under former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, then as a lobbyist for Australian media mogul Rupert Murdoch's News Corp group.
At the Elysée Palace, the 51-year-old communications consultant is said to want to highlight the “legacy” (“assessment” or “heritage”) of the President of the Republic, as one of the English terms with which he likes to punctuate his sentences, for which he sometimes criticized.
The man who was not close to Emmanuel Macron from the start was criticized even within the president's personal guard by some people who accused him of being disconnected from the socio-political realities of a country that he had left since 1995.
On January 1, 2024, Mr. Michel will become Communications Director and Vice President of the MCH Group, an international company that, among other things, organizes the large Art Basel in Basel, where its headquarters are also located.
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