Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin tonight named France’s first centre-right Cabinet in five years, selecting a veteran diplomat to lead the Foreign Ministry and for the first time a woman as head of defence.

French President Jacques Chirac has named conservative senator Jean-Pierre Raffarin as the country’s new Prime Minister.

French Prime Minister Lionel Jospin has officially announced his resignation, paving the way for President Jacques Chirac to name a successor.

French socialists today moved into position to wrest Paris from the right in the first round of municipal elections but failed to carry the country as polls had predicted.