UPDATED – Gabriel Attal becomes France’s youngest PM as Macron seeks reset
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French President Emmanuel Macron appointed 34-year-old Education Minister Gabriel Attal as his new prime minister on Tuesday, seeking to breathe new life into his second mandate ahead of European parliament elections.
The move will not necessarily lead to any major political shift, but signals a desire for Macron to try to move beyond last year’s unpopular pension and immigration reforms and improve his centrist party’s chances in the June EU ballot.
Opinion polls show Macron’s camp trailing far-right leader Marine Le Pen’s party by around eight to ten percentage points.
Attal, a close Macron ally who became a household name as government spokesman during the COVID pandemic, will replace outgoing Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne.
One of the country’s most popular politicians in recent opinion polls, Attal has made a name for himself as a savvy minister, at ease on radio shows and in parliament.
Cher @GabrielAttal, je sais pouvoir compter sur votre énergie et votre engagement pour mettre en œuvre le projet de réarmement et de régénération que j’ai annoncé. Dans la fidélité à l’esprit de 2017 : dépassement et audace. Au service de la Nation et des Français.
French Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne resigned on Monday, as President Emmanuel Macron seeks to give a new impetus to his second mandate ahead of European parliament elections and the Paris Olympics this summer.
Macron did not immediately name a successor for Borne, who will stay on as a caretaker along with the rest of the government until a new one is formed, the presidential palace said in a carefully choreographed move.
The change was made after a year marred by political crises triggered by contested reforms of the country’s pension system and immigration laws.
The move will not necessarily lead to a shift in political tack, but rather signal a desire to move beyond the pension and immigration reforms and focus on new priorities, including hitting full employment.
In her resignation letter, Borne said she and Macron agreed in their last meeting that “it was more necessary than ever to push on with reforms”.
European Parliament elections are scheduled to take place in June, with eurosceptics expected to make record gains at a time of widespread public discontent over surging living costs and the failure of European governments to curb migration flows.
