Macron names a veteran centrist as new French prime minister

French President Emmanuel Macron has announced that Francois Bayrou, leader of the Democratic Movement (MoDem), will become the new prime minister.

The 73-year-old Bayrou will replace Michel Barnier after his minority government was dismissed by the far right and far left for the first time since 1962, when it lasted a record-breaking 91 days.

“The President of the Republic has appointed François Bayrou as prime minister and instructed him to form a government,” the Elysee Palace statement said.

Bayrou is a former presidential candidate, minister of education and mayor of Pau

François Bayrou, 73, is a former minister of education and former mayor of Pau, in southwestern France.  He has run for president of France three times.

The centrist Bayrou was a presidential candidate three times—in 2002, 2007, and 2012. In 2007, he achieved his best result, taking third place with almost 19% of the vote.

In 2017, he became one of Macron’s main public supporters, postponing his own presidential bid to support the young candidate.

François Bayrou was Macron’s presidential campaign supporter in 2017. In recent years, he has distanced himself but retains authority in the president’s inner circle.

Bayrou’s ‘ability to build bridges’

He was reported to be well received by most political parties in the National Assembly, including Le Pen’s National Rally party.

Bayrou is the fourth French prime minister this year. He will have to approve the country’s budget by December 21 in a “divided” parliament, where Macron faces open opposition from both left-wing and far-right blocs. 

If the budget is not passed by that deadline, the government could still pass a “budget continuity law” that would avoid a shutdown by allowing taxes to be collected and salaries to be paid, with spending capped at 2024 levels.

Bayrou’s ability to build bridges is likely to be crucial in the coming days, as the French parliament has been divided into three main blocs since Macron called snap elections in June.

The alliance of leftist parties, created primarily to keep the far right out of the coalition, won the most votes but still failed to win a majority. Macron’s center-right alliance and the far-right National Rally make up the other two blocs.

Macron probably hopes that Bayrou’s political experience and his relatively good relations with various factions will help lead France out of the current political chaos.

Key task of the new prime minister is to pass a budget deal

The new prime minister faces the difficult task of appointing a government that will work with parliament to pass a budget deal for next year after the previous government’s proposal failed.

The budget is a major point of contention between France’s political parties, with National Rally leader Jordan Bardella saying that his party has “red lines” on a possible deal and that the new prime minister must be prepared to take each group’s views into account.

Left-wing politicians argue that Bayrou is working very closely with Macron and that continuing Macron’s policies is not in line with the results of the summer elections, in which the left received the most votes of any member of the bloc.

Manon Aubry of the far-left party “Unconquered France” said on Europe1 radio that Bayrou is “the embodiment of Macronism.”

Barnier became the shortest-serving prime minister in France

The previous French Prime Minister, Michel Barnier, tendered his resignation after the National Assembly (French parliament) passed a no-confidence resolution against his government on December 4, due to the adoption of the social sections of the 2025 state budget bypassing the parliament. “331 deputies voted in favor of the resolution, out of a required 289.

France last saw a vote of no confidence in the government in 1962. Barnier became the shortest-serving prime minister in the modern history of France.