New French PM chooses cabinet after Macron promotion

Attal, 34, faces a daunting task – Copyright AFP/File Julie SEBADELHA

Cécile AZZARO, Stuart WILLIAMS

France’s new Prime Minister Gabriel Attal was on Wednesday choosing his cabinet team after his stunning promotion by President Emmanuel Macron to become the youngest French head of government. 

Attal, 34, will look along with Macron to choose a heavyweight cabinet that can take on the far-right under Marine Le Pen in June European elections and beyond, as well as dispelling any doubts he is too young for the job. 

Macron named Attal, who is also France’s first openly gay premier, on Tuesday in place of Elisabeth Borne, seeking to recapture what the head of state termed the “spirit” of the president’s own 2017 rise to power when he himself was just 39. 

His appointment was less than smooth, with Macron reportedly having to overcome objections from some cabinet ministers as well as key powerbrokers outside of cabinet, including ex-premier Edouard Philippe and presidential chief of staff Alexis Kohler. 

The Le Monde daily said his nomination had been “disputed”. Left-leaning Liberation headlined “Macron prime minister”, arguing that Attal will be left no room for manoeuvre by his mentor. 

Attal hailed his appointment as a symbol of “audacity” as he took over from Borne during an official ceremony at the prime minister’s Matignon residence in Paris on Tuesday, his hands shaking on his papers amid the tension and cold. 

“France will never be synonymous with decline, France will be synonymous with transformation, France will be synonymous with audacity,” he said. 

– Cabinet uncertainty – 

After a first official engagement to visit victims of floods in northern France, Attal returned to Paris for dinner with Macron to discuss the new government. It remains unclear when the new cabinet will be announced.

Sources close to Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin told AFP the powerful 41-year-old had received assurances from Macron that he would stay in his post.

 Darmanin, another young high-flyer, had received the biggest political setback of his career in December when an immigration bill was initially rejected in parliament.

The future of Finance and Economy Minister Bruno Le Maire, the only top minister to have been post since Macron’s election in 2017, was more uncertain with some sources wondering if he was eager to work under a man who was once a junior minister in his own department. 

There was also a question mark over the post of foreign minister, currently held by former ambassador to the UK Catherine Colonna, while Transport Minister Clement Beaune, who in a previous role as Europe minister was a key figure in Brexit negotiations, was also seen at risk. 

Beaune and other left-leaning figures in the centrist government made clear their displeasure over the final text of the immigration bill when it eventually passed, reportedly leaving Macron furious. 

Attal will also need to find a replacement for his old job of education minister, one of the key posts in government which he held for less than half a year. 

Under the French system, the president sets general policies while the prime minister is responsible for day-to-day management and can often pay the price in case of turbulence. Attal is already the fourth prime minister less than seven years into the Macron administration. 

Commentators see the reshuffle as essential to relaunch Macron’s centrist presidency for its last three years and prevent him becoming a “lame duck” leader after his party lost its overall majority in 2022 legislative elections. 

With Macron unable to run again in 2027, ministers have publicly aired concerns that Le Pen has her best chance yet to win the presidency. 

Attal will go toe-to-toe ahead of the European elections with another rising star of French politics, the even younger Jordan Bardella, 28, who is now party leader of Le Pen’s far-right National Rally (RN).