PARIS — Nicolas Sarkozy’s new prime minister, François Fillon, is to name a Cabinet “of openness” Friday morning encompassing right, left, and centrist ministers as evidence that the new president intends to lead a more inclusive administration.

Mr. Fillon, 53, an anglophile who replaced Dominique de Villepin yesterday, is expected to announce a streamlined government of 15 ministers, half of them women — a first for France.

His wife, Penelope, who was brought up near Abergavenny, attended the handover ceremony. She will be the first Briton to move into the Hotel Matignon, the French equivalent of 10 Downing Street.

Described by his fellow countrymen as resembling a British “gentleman farmer,” he is a fan of bullfighting, fast cars — he competes in the 24 hour Le Mans race in a Ferrari each year — and climbing.

Mr. Fillon, who has studied with approval Prime Minister Blair’s style of government, said it was his “duty and mandate” to respect the French people’s vote for a “new kind of politics.”

To underline the change in leadership style, barely an hour after his appointment Mr. Fillon turned up at the Elysée palace in shorts and T-shirt and headed off for a jog with Mr. Sarkozy in the Bois de Boulogne, bodyguards in tow.

The softly-spoken former education and social affairs minister is described as the blunt Mr. Sarkozy’s alter ego. One aide said their relationship was summed up by the right-wing president’s campaign slogan of a “calm break” with the past. “The ‘break’ is Sarkozy, the ‘calm’ is François.”

The two formed a formidable team during the presidential campaign, in which Mr. Fillon was the president’s chief political advisor.

Mr. Fillon faces a daunting task passing a series of reforms by the summer, including loosening the 35-hour working week and introducing a mandatory minimum level of service during public sector strikes.

He is expected to name Alain Juppé, a former prime minister, as his second in command in charge of a new super-ministry for environment, sustainable development, energy, and transport.

Another expected high-profile appointment is Mr. Sarkozy’s campaign spokesman Rachida Dati, 41, who is tipped for the Justice Ministry and who would be the first politician of North African origin to hold a top French government post

Bernard Kouchner, a former socialist health minister and the founder of Médecins sans Frontières charity, is expected to be foreign minister.

Mr. Sarkozy ‘s campaign spokesman, Xavier Bertrand, is the favorite to run the Social Affairs Ministry. The president cannot hope to push through reforms without a firm majority in parliamentary elections in June.