Macron confidant

Automatically saved draft

From the left: France's new head of government François Bayrou and President Emmanuel Macron

(Bild: AFP/Georges Gobet)

French President Emmanuel Macron has appointed his ally François Bayrou (73) as the new head of government. Among other things, Bayrou was previously Minister of Justice and has been mayor of the southern French city of Pau for ten years.

Bayrou now has the task of putting together a government, it was reported from Paris on Friday. Bayrou is the leader of the MoDem party, which is allied with Macron and is located in the political center. The centre-right government of previous Prime Minister Michel Barnier was toppled by a vote of no confidence following a dispute over the budget. Barnier was only able to stay in office for three months. Since the new elections in June, Macron's camp no longer has a majority.

It is therefore uncertain whether Bayrou will be able to form a majority capable of governing. The Socialists have shown themselves open to tolerating a centrist government. The Greens, on the other hand, have repeatedly spoken out against the Macron confidant, as they believe he would continue the current policy.

Dependence on Le Pen?
The agreement between the parties is not only about a minimum level of stability, but above all about not becoming dependent on Le Pen's right-wing nationalists. It is expected that they will at least tolerate the new prime minister. Macron appointed the new head of government just one week after the fall in order to prevent an even greater political crisis.

Bayrou was initially a teacher and switched to politics at the end of the 1970s. He was Minister of Education from 1993 to 1997 and campaigned for a ban on Islamic headscarves in schools, among other things. He ran for president between 2002 and 2012 and was initially Minister of Justice after Macron took office.

Bayrou has been mayor of the southern French city of Pau since 2014. He is married and has six children.