After long weeks of suspense and debate, and almost two months after the results of the legislative elections, Emmanuel Macron, President of the Republic, finally announced his decision on Thursday, September 5, 2024. Michel Barnier has been named Prime Minister, and will be the next resident of theHôtel de Matignon, 51 days after Gabriel Attal's resignation.
While his predecessor was the youngest Prime Minister in the history of the Fifth Republic at 35, at 73 Michel Barnier is the oldest. A member of the Les Républicains party, in his political history he has already been a minister four times under three presidents: François Mitterand, Jacques Chirac and Nicolas Sarkozy: first Minister of the Environment in 1993, then Minister Delegate for European Affairs in 1995, Minister of Foreign Affairs in 2004 and Minister of Agriculture in 2007.
Twice a European Commissioner, he also assumed the role of Brexit negotiator. Following this appointment, a new government should be formed and presented shortly. In the words of the Elysée press release, he is "tasked with forming a unity government at the service of the country and the French people", and this in a context where no party will have obtained an absolute majority in the National Assembly.
