Jack Lang
Cool cat, France’s education minister
IT IS easy to deride him: the bouffant hair, the film-star smile, the dandy clothes that are just a touch too fashionable, snipe his critics, for a 61-year-old grandfather who is meant to be a serious politician. So why do opinion polls constantly rate Jack Lang, France's minister of culture for most of the 1980s and early 1990s and now, for the second time, its minister of education, above most of his colleagues?
This article appeared in the Europe section of the print edition under the headline “Jack Lang”
From the June 23rd 2001 edition
Discover stories from this section and more in the list of contents
Explore the editionMore from Europe
Russian trainee pilots appear to be hunting Ukrainian civilians
Residents of Kherson are dodging murderous drones
Can the good ship Europe weather the Trumpnado?
Tossed by political storms, the continent must dodge a new threat
Spain’s proposed house tax on foreigners will not fix its shortage
Pedro Sánchez will need the opposition’s help to increase supply
A French-sponsored Ukrainian army brigade has been badly botched
The scandal reveals serious weaknesses in Ukraine’s military command
A TV dramatisation of Mussolini’s life inflames Italy
With Giorgia Meloni in power, the fascist past is more relevant than ever
France’s new prime minister is trying to court the left
François Bayrou gambles with Emmanuel Macron’s economic legacy