There are phone calls that one cannot refuse. And the call from the Élysée Palace resonated strongly with the prefect of Loire, Muriel Nguyen. The state representative in the department will indeed soon leave her position to take on new duties with the President of the Republic.
Seven months at the helm of the Loire prefecture
The prefect will have only stayed seven short months at the helm of the Loire prefecture. She arrived at the beginning of September 2025, following Alexandre Rochatte’s departure to French Polynesia. This 51-year-old senior official passed through the National School of Administration (ENA), in the “Averroes” promotion in 1998, before joining several state services.
She notably held the position of prefect in the departments of Somme and Meuse. In the latter department, it was actually Alexandre Rochatte who replaced her in 2019. Before settling in Loire, Muriel Nguyen led a service in charge of interministerial coordination for defense and national security issues. A world she should find herself in again within the Élysée Palace to serve as a senior adviser and security official to the President of the Republic.
Antoine Vermorel-Marques, the deputy of the 5th district of Loire, applauds “her commitment” and considers this news an opportunity for Loire: “We will miss her. In seven months, she has shown a lot of seriousness in handling her files. She is a great professional, recognized as such, and that is surely why she is called to work with the President of the Republic. It’s a promotion for her. We always need support at the highest level of the state to move forward with files, obtain funding. I hope she will have Loire’s interests at heart in Paris.”
“A territory of strong contrasts, with identities”
During these seven months at the head of the Loire prefecture, Muriel Nguyen discovered “a territory of strong contrasts, with identities.” Overall, the department has managed to maintain its traditional roots: industry and agriculture,” as she explained in our columns during a review in January 2026. Narcotics, road safety, agriculture, industry, and violence in stadiums were her five work areas in Loire, a department where she said she had been “very well received.”
Muriel Nguyen is expected to leave the prefecture within three weeks, awaiting the appointment of a new state representative in Loire. But this deadline is likely to be shorter. “We hope for the quickest,” concludes Antoine Vermorel-Marques.
