President Emmanuel Macron prepares for the European elections with new prime minister
Gabriel Attal succeeds Élisabeth Borne.
There had been rumors in Paris for several weeks that there could be a government reshuffle and on 8 January the time had come. Prime Minister Élisabeth Borne submitted the resignation of her government to President Emmanuel Macron. In a message published on X, he thanked the outgoing prime minister and spoke of her "exemplary" work, which had been carried out with "courage". In her letter of resignation, Borne explained that she was not resigning on her own initiative, but had been asked to do so by the President of the Republic. Emmanuel Macron then appointed Gabriel Attal, the former education minister and Macronist from the very beginning, on January 9. At the age of 34, he is the youngest prime minister of the Fifth Republic, having recently been named the most popular politician in French opinion polls and having previously been Macron's government spokesman and education minister in the Borne cabinet.
Government reshuffles are not unusual in France. In his first term of office (2017 - 2022), two prime ministers served under President Emmanuel Macron. After the tense end to 2023 surrounding the reform of the immigration law, Macron wants to calm the political waters within his own majority by appointing Prime Minister Gabriel Attal in the 2024 European election year, which will once again be characterized by a duel between the liberals and the right-wing populist camp in France.