Michel Barnier appointed by Macron as new Prime Minister of France

French President Emmanuel Macron has appointed Michel Barnier as prime minister nearly two months after France’s snap election ended in political deadlock.

Mr Barnier, 73, is the EU’s former chief Brexit negotiator and led talks with the British government from 2016 to 2019.

A veteran of the right-wing Republicans (LR) party, he has had a long political career and held various senior positions, both in France and within the EU.

He will now have to form a viable government as parliament splits into three major political blocs, none of which can form a clear majority.

Known in France as Mr. BrexitMr Barnier will be France’s oldest prime minister since the Fifth Republic was founded in 1958.

Three years ago, he tried unsuccessfully to become his party’s candidate to run against President Macron for the French presidency. He said he wanted to limit and control immigration.

He will succeed Gabriel Attal, France’s youngest-ever prime minister, who was first appointed prime minister by President Macron in early 2024 and has held the post as caretaker prime minister since July.

President Macron took 60 days to decide on his prime minister after calling for a “political truce” during the Paris Olympics.

But Mr Barnier will need all his political skills to get through the coming weeks, as the centre-left Socialists have planned to challenge his appointment with a confidence vote.

Mr Macron’s presidential term will last until 2027. Normally, the government comes from the president’s party, as they are elected within weeks of each other.

But the man who calls himself “master of the clock” changed that when he called early elections in June and his centrist party came second behind the left-wing New Popular Front.

President Macron has interviewed several potential candidates for prime minister, but his task is complicated by having to come up with a name that can survive a vote of censure on its first appearance in parliament.

By appointing Mr Barnier, the president has ensured that the future prime minister and government will bring the greatest possible stability and the broadest possible unity, the Elysée Palace said.

Mr Barnier has been tasked with forming a unity government “at the service of the French nation and people”, the President stressed.

Mr Barnier’s immediate challenge is to run France’s 2025 budget and he has until October 1 to submit a draft plan to parliament.

Gabriel Attal has been working on an interim budget over the summer, but to get it through parliament, Mr Barnier will have to use all his political skills.

His nomination caused discontent within the New Popular Front (NFP), as the party’s prime ministerial candidate was rejected by the president.

Jean-Luc Mélenchon, leader of the radical France Unbowed (LFI) party – the largest of the four parties that make up the NFP – said the election had been “stolen from the French people”.

Instead of coming from the first coalition on 7 July, he complained that the prime minister would be “a member of a party that came last”, referring to the Republicans.

“This is essentially a Macron-Le Pen government,” said Mr Mélenchon, referring to the leader of the far-right National Rally (RN) party.

He then called on people to join a left-wing protest against Mr Macron’s decision scheduled for Saturday.

To overcome a confidence vote, Mr Barnier will need to convince 289 MPs in the 577-seat parliament to back his government.

Marine Le Pen has made it clear that her party will not join his administration, but she said he at least appeared to meet the National Rally’s initial requirements of being “respectful of different political forces”.

Jordan Bardella, the 28-year-old president of RN, said Mr Barnier would be judged on his words, actions and decisions on France’s next budget, which must be presented to parliament by 1 October.

He cited the cost of living, security and immigration as major emergencies for the French people, adding that “we will reserve all political action in case the situation does not improve in the coming weeks”.

Mr Barnier is likely to draw support from the president’s centrist Ensemble coalition. Macron ally Yaël Braun-Pivet, currently president of the National Assembly, congratulated his nominee and said MPs would now have to do their part: “Our mandate requires us to do so.”

The former Brexit negotiator only emerged as a potential candidate late Wednesday afternoon.

Until then, two other experienced politicians had been considered the most likely candidates: former Socialist prime minister Bernard Cazeneuve and Republican regional leader Xavier Bertrand. But it soon became clear that neither of them would survive a confidence vote.

That was Mr Macron’s explanation for rejecting leftist candidate Lucie Castets, a senior civil servant in Paris who he said would have fallen at the first hurdle.

The president has been widely criticized for causing a political crisis in France.

A recent poll found that 51% of French voters think the president should resign.

There is little chance of that happening, but the man Mr Macron chose as his first prime minister in 2017, Édouard Philippe, has now run for the next presidential election three years early.