Raffarin (left) still has Chirac's trust - for now

President Jacques Chirac reappointed Mr Raffarin despite the rout.

The new cabinet - Mr Raffarin's third since May 2002 - includes both familiar names and high-profile changes.

The popular Nicolas Sarkozy gets the finance portfolio and is replaced at the interior ministry by outgoing Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin.

Michel Barnier - currently a member of the European Commission - becomes the new foreign minister.

The BBC's Alasdair Sandford in Paris says Mr Barnier's Brussels experience should help France in future negotiations over a European constitution.

Tall order

At home the government's immediate concern is the fate of its programme of economic reforms, our correspondent says.

MUSICAL CHAIRS? Foreign Minister: Michel Barnier Finance Minister: Nicolas Sarkozy Interior Minister: Dominique de Villepin Analysis: Chirac's tactics Are reforms doomed?

Mr Sarkozy's communication skills will be called upon to win over a sceptical public, he adds.

Mr Raffarin's efforts to reform public sector pensions and other aspects of France's extensive welfare system have proved deeply unpopular.

The UMP lost heavily in the recent local and regional elections, retaining only one of the 21 mainland regions.

The socialists and their allies held their existing eight regions, and seized another 12 from the centre-right.

Analysts say Mr Raffarin could still leave office later in the year.

Other cabinet changes announced on Wednesday include the appointment of Francois Fillon as education minister, and the promotion of Jean-Louis Borloo to head a new ministry for "labour and social cohesion".