France’s new president, François Hollande, appointed veteran lawmaker Jean-Marc Ayrault as his prime minister on Tuesday, hours after being sworn in to the country’s top job.

France’s new president, François Hollande, appointed veteran lawmaker Jean-Marc Ayrault as his prime minister on Tuesday, hours after being sworn in to the country's top job, France 24 reported Wednesday.

Ayrault, 62, is the mayor of the northwest city of Nantes and a longtime leader of the Socialist Party in parliament.

A close ally of newly elected French President François Hollande for the past 15 years, he was seen as more moderate in his views than other candidates for the post, including Socialist Party leader Martine Aubry.

In the French executive branch, which does not include a vice president, the prime minister heads all other government ministries, oversees domestic affairs and is second only to the president in importance.

The new prime minister arrived at the Matignon Palace in Paris on his first day of work Wednesday and began drawing up a cabinet list.

Ayrault and Hollande have been close collaborators in parliament, often sitting side by side in the lower-house National Assembly. In 1997, when Ayrault first became president of the Socialist group in parliament, Hollande became their party’s first secretary on the national level.

Ayrault was also among the first Socialist heavyweights to back Hollande’s bid for the party’s presidential nomination.