Michel Barnier’s journey from Mr Brexit to Prime Minister of France

France’s new prime minister has had a long career in politics, but Michel Barnier is well known even in his home country of France as the EU’s chief negotiator in the Brexit years. His job was to represent the European Union during negotiations with the UK government.

Born in the mountainous region of Savoie in south-east France in 1951, Mr Barnier – a keen skier and hiker – has been a devoted, patriot in the tradition of French leader Charles de Gaulle from an early age.

He joined the right-wing Union for the Defense of the Republic (UDR) group when he was young. To this day, he is still a supporter of the UDR, the Republicans (LR).

Mr Barnier did not attend the prestigious French École Nationale d’Administration, where many of the world’s leaders have graduated – but he made history when, at the age of 27, he became the youngest member of Parliament ever to be elected.

He married Isabelle Altmayer, a lawyer, in 1982. The couple have three grown children and were in the courtyard of the prime minister’s residence at Hôtel Matignon when he took office.

In 1992 Mr Barnier took great pride in bringing the Winter Olympics to Savoie – a feat he said taught him about working on large projects involving many people, while always keeping an eye on the prize.

He entered politics the following year and served as a cabinet minister in various French governments for several years. In 2010, he became the EU’s internal market commissioner – one of the most coveted jobs in the European Commission.

Still, Mr Barnier is aiming high. In 2014, he made an unsuccessful attempt to become president of the European Commission, losing to Jean-Claude Juncker.

In July 2016, a month after the UK voted to leave the EU, Mr Juncker – who said he wanted “a politician with experience in this difficult task” – chose Mr Barnier to negotiate a Brexit deal.

His appointment surprised other French people who were with Mr. Barnier, whom they never particularly respected. Just a few years earlier, a reporter for the French newspaper Libération had famously said that Mr Barnier – then a political veteran – would always be “a good skier, with white teeth, always limited in intelligence”.

On the EU side, however, Mr Barnier was known for being proactive and pragmatic. Sadly, he was also seen as a cool head – a key feature during the first febrile months after the Brexit referendum.

Throughout the grueling Brexit process he had to work with an ever-changing team of British prime minister negotiators, but Mr Barnier remained unmoved, facing what he repeatedly called an “expensive and painful divorce”.

Although he was often pictured sitting at negotiating tables in Brussels or London, much of the work to separate the UK from the EU was done by Mr Barnier’s staff. Behind the scenes, his main task was to go around Europe and build consensus among the 27 member states to ensure that the EU remains united.

In the process, he became a familiar sight on TV screens on both sides of the Channel and beyond – tall, scruffy and shaggy, often circling the EU flag and often unavoidable.

There was little emotion in his voice when, switching seamlessly from English to French, he announced on 24 December 2020 that the EU and the UK had reached a post-Brexit trade deal.

Mr Barnier – ever fond of hiking metaphors – once likened Brexit to climbing a mountain. Soon after that peak was conquered, he began to climb the next one.

In the summer of 2021, he launched a bid to run in the 2022 French presidential election, not holding back from criticizing President Emmanuel Macron, who he said rules France in an “arrogant” way.

Away from Brussels, Mr Barnier began to shed his EU technocrat image.

He called for strict anti-immigration policies to be implemented in France and throughout the EU, saying that France should be able to ignore certain decisions of the European Court of Justice and the European Court of Human Rights. Some observers were surprised, and interpreted this as a populist move.

Others felt that Mr Barnier was simply listening to Brexit lessons and looking at the mood of the electorate.

But his bid for the presidency of the Republicans was unsuccessful, and for the past three years Mr Barnier has caused a stir, as France’s political landscape has become increasingly divided.

His name came up from time to time as a potential prime minister after the July 2024 election that left France deadlocked. But it wasn’t until 60 days after the vote that he was named Prime Minister by President Macron.

Although Mr Barnier is primarily known as Mr BrexitPresident Macron may have chosen him because they both come from a pro-European center and share the same right-wing leanings on economics.

His Republican background puts him at odds with left-wing parties, but that means centrist, right-wing forces and members of the public can help him survive his first challenge to the presidency – a vote of confidence.

David Davis, who worked closely with Mr Barnier for several years as the UK’s Brexit Secretary, told the BBC he was a “solid Frenchman” who was “well built in real France”.

In his first speech as prime minister, Mr Barnier acknowledged the challenges of the job ahead and vowed to tell the truth “even when it’s hard to hear”.

“There is a need for respect, appeasement and unity,” he said, nodding to the chaotic political situation he now presides over.

“I begin this new chapter, this new blank page, with great humility.”