Macron names centrist Bayrou as French Prime Minister in a bid to end political instability

President Emmanuel Macron has nominated centrist leader François Bayrou as France’s next Prime Minister, in a bid to end political unrest.

Macron’s colleague, Bayrou is a mayor from the southwest and leads the MoDem party. Before the announcement, the two men spent nearly two hours in what French media described as intense talks.

The president’s task now is to ensure that Bayrou lasts longer than his predecessor. Former Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier was fired by MPs nine days ago.

Macron is about to finish his second term as president and Bayrou will be his fourth prime minister this year. French politics has been dysfunctional since Macron called snap parliamentary elections for the summer.

A BFMTV opinion poll on Thursday suggested that 61% of French voters are worried about the political situation. France’s conservative leader Manuel Bompard lamented the “sad spectacle”.

Macron has vowed to remain in office until his second term ends in 2027, despite Barnier’s fallout last week.

The President cut short a trip to Poland on Thursday and was expected to call his new prime minister last night, but postponed it until Friday.

He then met Bayrou, 73, at the Elysée Palace and the final decision was made a few hours later.

Bayrou will enter the prime minister’s residence at Hôtel Matignon. The challenge will be to form a government that will not be brought down in the manner of its predecessor in the National Parliament.

Macron has already held round table talks with the leaders of all major political parties, blocking France Unbowed (LFI) of Jean-Luc Mélenchon and the National Rally of Marine Le Pen.

The question will be whether he will be able to persuade leftist parties to join Bayrou’s government, or at least agree to a deal not to fire him. Barnier has only been in office for three months and LFI MPs have already indicated that they will raise another vote of no confidence.

Earlier, French media quoted another potential candidate, former foreign minister Jean-Yves Le Drian, as saying he turned down the job because he was in his 70s.

Barnier was voted out as Le Pen’s National Rally joined left-wing MPs in rejecting his plans for 60 billion euros (£50bn) in tax increases and spending cuts. He wanted to reduce France’s budget deficit, which is expected to reach 6.1% of GDP this year.

Under the political system of the Fifth Republic of France, the president is elected for five years and appoints the prime minister who is chosen by the Cabinet and then appointed by the president.

In an unusual move, President Macron called snap parliamentary elections for the summer after poor results in June’s EU elections. The result left France in a political quagmire, with three major political blocs formed on the left, the center and the far right.

He eventually chose Barnier to form a minority government that relied on Marine Le Pen’s National Rally for survival. Macron now hopes to restore stability without relying on his party.

Three left-wing parties – the Socialists, Greens and Communists – have split from the left-wing LFI and are participating in negotiations to form a new government.

However, they have made it clear that they want to see the left-wing prime minister they have chosen if they are going to join a larger government.

“I told you that I want someone from the left and the Greens and I think that Bayrou is neither one nor the other,” Greens leader Marine Tondelier told French TV on Thursday, adding that he did not see the majority camp losing a member of parliament. election can hold the position of prime minister and maintain the same principles.

Carole Delga, who is a Socialist leader in the south of France, said that the French people were outraged by the situation, which she compared to a bad movie.

Sébastien Chenu, Member of Parliament of the National Rally, said that in his party it was less about who Macron chose than the political line he chose. If Bayrou wants to tackle immigration and the cost of living crisis “he will find a partner in us”.

Relations between the centre-left and Jean-Luc Mélenchon’s hard-line LFI appear to be fraying with the three parties’ decision to pursue talks with President Macron.

After the LFI leader asked his allies to abandon the coalition agreement, Olivier Faure of the Socialists told French TV that “the louder Mélenchon shouts the less he is heard”.

Meanwhile, Marine Le Pen has called for consideration of her party’s policies regarding the cost of living in the next government, by creating a budget that “does not cross the red lines of each party”.

Michel Barnier’s governing government has tabled a bill that would allow the provisions of the 2024 budget to continue until next year. But a replacement budget for 2025 will have to be approved when the next government takes office.

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