François Bayrou becomes new Prime Minister of France

French President Emmanuel Macron has appointed François Bayrou, leader of the centrist Democratic Movement party, as the new prime minister.

This was reported at the Elysee Palace.

President Macron has tasked him with forming a new government.

Bayrou, 73, calls himself a "village man" because of his provincial background.

He is a former education minister and mayor of the city of Pau in southwestern France, and has been an ally and close confidant of Macron since he came to power in 2017.

Bayrou is the fourth head of government in France this year. It is currently difficult to predict whether he will be able to form a stable majority in parliament.

What preceded

After parliamentary elections in June-July, the National Assembly was divided into three main blocs: a left-wing coalition known as the New Popular Front, centrist allies of President Emmanuel Macron, and the far-right National Rally party. None of the blocs won an absolute majority.

In September, Macron asked conservative Michel Barnier to form a government dominated by republicans and centrists. Barnier had been negotiating with the National Rally until the end and had made several concessions to meet their budget demands. But the French far-right called them insufficient.

The opposition initiated a vote of confidence in Barnierʼs government after he decided to pass a bill on the social security budget for 2025 (which provided for significant budget savings, including tax increases) bypassing a vote by deputies. The opposition forces disagreed with this bill.

The National Assembly, the lower house of the French parliament, voted on December 4 for a vote of no confidence in the government of Prime Minister Michel Barnier.

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