Who is Fatima Ezzahra El Mansouri, Morocco’s new Head of Government?

A lawyer by training, twice elected Mayor of Marrakech, minister from 2021 to 2026 and coordinator of the collegial leadership of the Authenticity and Modernity Party (PAM), Fatima Ezzahra El Mansouri was appointed Head of Government by His Majesty King Mohammed VI on 29 September 2026. Here, date by date, is the career of the first woman to lead a government in Morocco.

At a glance

• Born: 3 January 1976, in Marrakech
• Profession: lawyer, registered at the Marrakech Bar since 22 March 2005
• Current role: Head of Government (often called prime minister in English-language media), appointed on 29 September 2026
• Party: Authenticity and Modernity Party (PAM), whose collegial leadership she has coordinated since February 2024

A lawyer trained in Marrakech, Rabat, Montpellier and New York

1976. Fatima Ezzahra El Mansouri was born on 3 January 1976 in Marrakech, into a family from the Rehamna region. Her father, Abderrahmane El Mansouri, a lawyer, served as pasha of Marrakech and later as Morocco’s ambassador to the United Arab Emirates. Her campaign website says it was from him that she drew her sense of public responsibility.

1994. After French-system schooling in Marrakech, she earned her baccalaureate at the city’s Lycée Victor Hugo.

Higher education. She obtained a bachelor’s degree (licence) in private law from Mohammed V University in Rabat, then a postgraduate diploma (DEA) in business-contract law from the University of Montpellier in France. She completed her training with a certificate in Anglo-Saxon business law in New York, in the United States.

2005. She was registered at the Marrakech Bar on 22 March 2005, specialising in land and real-estate law. Drawing on experience at a Casablanca law firm, she founded her own practice, focused on real-estate and commercial transactions.

From the PAM’s founding to Marrakech City Hall (2008-2015)

2008. She entered politics through the Movement for All Democrats, then became one of the founding members of the PAM. She also served two terms on the party’s political bureau.

June 2009. Elected to the municipal council on 12 June, she became President of the Marrakech city council on 22 June, winning by 54 votes to 35. At 33, she was the first woman to lead the Ochre City and the second woman mayor in Morocco’s history, after Asmaa Chaâbi in Essaouira.

2011. She was elected to the House of Representatives for the first time, serving from 2011 to 2016 and again from 2016 to 2021.

2014. On 6 January, His Majesty King Mohammed VI launched the “Marrakech, Cité du renouveau permanent” programme in the city, worth MAD 6.3 billion and prepared by her council through 30 workshops with 1,200 citizens. In March, the World Economic Forum named her a Young Global Leader; in December, Forbes listed her first in “The 20 Youngest Power Women in Africa 2014”. Her first term as mayor ended in 2015.

At the heart of the PAM and the government (2016-2024)

2016 and 2020. On 24 January 2016, she was unanimously elected President of the PAM’s National Council. Re-elected unanimously on 9 February 2020, she held the post until February 2024.

September and October 2021. Re-elected to the House on 8 September in Marrakech Médina-Sidi Youssef Ben Ali, where the PAM list came first with 16,136 votes, she returned as Mayor of Marrakech on 17 September, elected with 79 votes. On 7 October, at the Royal Palace in Fès, she was appointed Minister of National Territory Planning, Urban Planning, Housing and City Policy, while remaining mayor. In that role she oversaw the Direct Housing Aid programme, in force since 2 January 2024, which had more than 108,000 beneficiaries by June 2026.

February 2024. The PAM’s 5th national congress in Bouznika replaced the single secretary-general with a collegial leadership, and she became its coordinator. On 13 February, His Majesty King Mohammed VI sent her a message of congratulations.

2026: from the ballot box to the head of government

23 September 2026. The PAM came first in the legislative elections with 97 of 395 seats, a first since its founding. She was elected once again in Marrakech.

29 September 2026. His Majesty King Mohammed VI appointed her Head of Government under Article 47 of the Constitution and charged her with forming the new government.

During the campaign, she summed up her commitment in these words:

“Serving people is not a passing season, nor a stage, nor a choice open to revision. It is a daily commitment.”

Fatima Ezzahra El Mansouri, from her campaign address, September 2026

To learn more, read her full biography and explore the milestones of her career.