Macron appoints centrist Bayrou as French Prime Minister in an effort to end political instability

President Emmanuel Macron has appointed centrist leader François Bayrou as France's next prime minister, in an effort to end months of political turmoil.

Bayrou, a Macron ally, is a mayor from the southwest who leads the Democratic Movement party. Before the announcement, the two men spent nearly two hours in talks that French media described as tense.

The president's task now is to ensure that Bairou survives longer than his predecessor. MPs ousted the former Brexit negotiator, Michel Barnier, nine days ago.

Macron is in the middle of his second term as president and Bayrou will be his fourth prime minister this year. French politics have reached a dead end since Macron called early parliamentary elections over the summer.

A poll conducted by BFMTV on Thursday showed that 61% of French voters are concerned about the political situation. Manuel Bompard, leader of France's far-left party, complained of the “pathetic scene.”

Macron has pledged to remain in office until his second term ends in 2027, despite Barnier's fall last week.

The president cut short a trip to Poland on Thursday and was expected to appoint his new prime minister last night, but postponed his announcement until Friday.

Then he met Bayrou (73 years old) at the Elysee Palace, and the final decision was made hours later.

Bayrou will move to the Prime Minister's residence at the Matignon Hotel. The immediate challenge will be to form a government that will not be overthrown, as happened with his predecessor in the National Assembly.

Macron has already held roundtable talks with leaders from all major political parties, except for Jean-Luc Mélenchon's far-left Silent France and Marine Le Pen's far-right National Rally.

The question now is whether he is able to convince the center-left parties to join Bayrou's government, or at least agree to an agreement so that they do not oust him. Barnier only lasted three months in office, and LFI MPs have already indicated they will propose another vote of no confidence.

French media had previously quoted another potential candidate, former Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian, as saying that he rejected the position because he was in his late seventies.

Barnier was voted out when Le Pen's National Rally party joined left-wing MPs in rejecting his plans to raise taxes and cut spending worth €60bn (£50bn). He was seeking to reduce France's budget deficit, which is expected to reach 6.1% of GDP this year.

Under the political system of the Fifth French Republic, the president is elected for a five-year term and then appoints the prime minister, who then appoints the president to choose his government.

Unusually, President Macron called for early elections for Parliament during the summer after poor results in the European Union elections in June. The result left France in a political dilemma, with three large political blocs consisting of the left, center and far right.

In the end, Barnier chose to form a minority government that relied on Marine Le Pen's National Rally party for its survival. Macron now hopes to restore stability without relying on her party.

Three centre-left parties – the Socialists, Greens and Communists – broke away from the more radical left-wing LFI and took part in talks to form a new government.

However, they have made clear that they want to see a left-wing prime minister of their choice if they are to join a broad-based government.

“I told you I want someone from the left and the Greens, and I think Mr. Bayrou is neither one nor the other,” Marine Tondillier, leader of the Green Party, told French television on Thursday. She added that she did not see how the centrist camp that lost parliament in the elections could hold the position of prime minister and maintain the same policies.

Carole Delga, a socialist leader from southern France, said French people had become angry about the situation, which she likened to a bad movie.

Sébastien Chenault, a member of parliament for the National Rally party, said that for his party, it was less about who Macron chose than about the “political line” he chose. If Bayrou wants to address the migration crisis and the cost of living, he “will find an ally in us.”

Relations between the centre-left and Jean-Luc Mélenchon's radical LFI party appear to have broken down over the three parties' decision to continue talks with President Macron.

After the LFI leader called on his former allies to walk away from the coalition deal, the Socialists' Olivier Faure told French television that “the more Mélenchon shouts, the less he will be heard.”

At the same time, Marine Le Pen called for the next government to take her party's policies on the cost of living into account, by building a budget that “does not cross the red lines of each party.”

The caretaker government headed by Michel Barnier has put forward a draft law to enable 2024 budget allocations to continue next year. But the alternative budget for 2025 will have to be approved once the next government takes office.

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