Emmanuel Macron has appointed political protégé Gabriel Attal as his new prime minister after the resignation of Élisabeth Borne on Monday night. Rumours of a government reshuffle had been circulating in France for many months, ever since the vote on the much-contested pension reform. Emmanuel Macron preferred to wait and take advantage of the New Year and the vote on the immigration law to thank Élisabeth Borne and appoint Attal, the 34-year-old Minister of National Education, in her place.
Despite the upheavals of the last few months, Élisabeth Borne had long believed that she would be able to stay in her post and liked to flaunt her ‘shared views’ with President Macron. But it was no secret that the relationship between the two members of the executive was not a good one. The French constitution, which is presidential with a dose of parliamentarianism, stipulates that the prime minister is chosen by the president of the Republic. Élisabeth Borne was therefore pushed out by Emmanuel Macron and formally submitted a letter of resignation, which was naturally accepted. In June, Élisabeth Borne submitted her resignation on her own initiative, but it was rejected by the President.
The announcement of the ministerial reshuffle did not arouse much enthusiasm in the French political class. It was accompanied by a certain amount of communication chaos, with Élisabeth Borne’s resignation being made official on the evening of Monday, January 8th, without the name of her successor being made public, as is usually the case. The name of the Prime Minister was not finally known until late morning on Tuesday, January 9th.
The opposition, whether on the Right or the Left, points out that the change of personnel is not accompanied by any substantive political change, and that the bulk of power remains concentrated in the hands of President of the Republic Emmanuel Macron, afflicted with the sobriquet “Jupiter.”
Rassemblement National spokesman Laurent Jacobelli said he was very sceptical about the value of the reshuffle: “In the end, what will happen? The president of the Republic will appoint someone to do his bidding, as he does every time. And he will continue to be in charge,” he declared on LCI.
Olivier Faure, General Secretary of the Socialist Party, echoed this view, saying that “the reality of power is at the Élysée. Jupiter does not share power, and all the Prime Ministers who succeed one another at Matignon have no room for manoeuvre,” he explained on France Inter.
By changing his prime minister, Emmanuel Macron hopes to turn the page on a particularly painful period for his camp, with two laws passed in conditions of strong political opposition, on pension reform in the spring and immigration reform in December. Élisabeth Borne will remain associated with these episodes, and with her regular use of article 49.3 of the French constitution—a procedure designed to force legislation through in the absence of a majority for the government. During her term of office as Prime Minister, which lasted a year and almost eight months, she used the article in question 23 times, i.e., more than once a month, and faced around thirty motions of censure—a record under the Fifth Republic. Only Michel Rocard, former Prime Minister under François Mitterrand, used the 49.3 more than Elisabeth Borne—28 times—but he was only exposed to 5 motions of censure. Used by Emmanuel Macron to push through unpopular legislation, Borne has now been sidelined, appearing to be the “ideal fuse”—a safety mechanism to divert anger from the president—in the words of Louis Aliot, mayor of Perpignan and a leading figure in the Rassemblement National.
Fabien Roussel, Secretary General of the Communist Party, interviewed on TF1, expressed the hope that the new Prime Minister would “undertake not to use the 49.3 again.” But with the government still lacking a majority, this is highly unlikely.
Gabriel Attal thus becomes the youngest prime minister in the history of France. He is the son of film producer Yves Attal. He went to the École Alsacienne, a very posh public school that welcomes many children of political and artistic figures into its ranks—something he was much criticised for when a few months ago Emmanuel Macron chose him as Minister of National Education to succeed the migrant-background Pap Ndiaye.
In recent weeks, Gabriel Attal had established himself as an increasingly popular figure among the French. His name was also being put forward as a possible candidate for the mayoralty of Paris in 2026. By appointing him Prime Minister, Emmanuel Macron hopes to benefit from the young minister’s goodwill and maintain a ‘centrist’ position. The other potential candidates for the post of Prime Minister—Armed Forces Minister Sébastien Lecornu and former Agriculture Minister Julien Denormandie—would have tilted his government either too far to the Right (Lecornu) or too far to the Left (Denormandie). A balancing game the French only know too well.
The change of prime minister is likely to be accompanied by other changes within the government in the coming days.
Gabriel Attal’s political career is very similar to that of Emmanuel Macron. He joined the Socialist Party in 2000, at the age of 21, and remained there until 2016. He was an advisor to Socialist Health Minister Marisol Touraine from 2012 to 2017, infamous for her activism in favour of abortion. In 2017, Gabriel Attal joined La République En Marche, the party founded by Emmanuel Macron to win the presidency of the Republic. Elected deputy in 2017, he subsequently joined the various governments of Édouard Philippe, then Jean Castex, in the youth and education sectors. In 2022, he became Minister Delegate for Public Accounts.
This article was updated on January 12, 2024 to reflect the status of Attal’s relationship with Stéphane Séjourné.
Attal then made a name for himself by taking over from Pap Ndiaye, after the latter’s disavowal at the head of National Education. His firm stance, particularly on the issue of the abaya, and his desire to experiment with uniforms in state schools, won him the good graces of some on the Right and the distrust of others on the Left. Pointing to his inexperience, Socialist Olivier Faure described him as “a brilliant young man when it comes to communication, but a minister with no track record.” La France Insoumise MP Mathilde Panot described him as a “Macron junior.”
Very discreet about his private life, Gabriel Attal was recently in a relationship with Stéphane Séjourné, chairman of the Renew Europe group in the European Parliament and secretary general of Renaissance, formerly La République En Marche. Attal has never made his homosexuality a campaign point and has confided to the press in the past that he experienced it as a wound, and that his coming-out was done against his will. In 2019, he declared that he was not opposed to the introduction of ‘ethical’ surrogacy in France.
