France: François Bayrou is New Prime Minister
Emmanuel Macron has chosen a veteran centrist politician to form a new government
After 100 days of the Barnier government, François Bayrou is to form a new government in France.
Emmanuel Macron chose the 73-year-old man after lengthy consultations, as announced by the Elysee Palace, which explained in a statement: “The President of the Republic has appointed Mr. François Bayrou as Prime Minister, entrusting him with the task of forming a government.”
Bayrou is a longtime centrist politician and president of the Democratic Movement, which he himself founded in 2007. He has always been elected from 1982 until today and has run for the Elysee Palace three times: in 2002, 2007, and 2012.
The first task, certainly not an easy one given the short “life” of his predecessor, is to form a government. The second is to hold out in a troubled National Assembly without a majority, which demands urgent approval of the 2025 budget law, more important than ever given the dire state of French finances.
During his career, Bayrou has also been the youngest education minister in French history: he was 41 in 1992, and most recently he was Minister of Justice in 2017 with President Macron and Head of Government Edouard Philippe.
