France, François Bayrou appointed Prime Minister: his background, the challenges ahead

French President Emmanuel Macron appointed François Bayrou Prime Minister on December 13, 2024, and tasked him with forming a Government. Michel Barnier, Prime Minister since September 5, 2024, presented his resignation to Emmanuel Macron on Thursday December 5, who accepted it.

Who is François Bayrou?

At 73, François Bayrou becomes the fourth Matignon tenant of 2024, after Elisabeth Borne, Gabriel Attal and Michel Barnier.

François Bayrou was born on May 25, 1951, in Bordères, a village in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques region, to farming parents. In 1974, he began his career as an activist, and from 1982 onwards, he held a series of local elective offices, becoming a general councillor, city councillor of Pau (in 1983) and deputy of the Pyrénées-Atlantiques region (in 1986).
In 1993, François Bayrou joined Edouard Balladur’s government, becoming at 41 the youngest Minister of Education in the Fifth Republic. In 1999, François Bayrou led the UDF list for the European elections and was elected to the European Parliament.

At the same time, he chaired several centrist parties: the Centre des démocrates sociaux (CDS) from 1994 to 1995 and Force démocrate (FD) from 1995 to 1998, the Union pour la démocratie française (UDF) from 1998 to 2007 and the Mouvement démocrate (MoDem) since 2007.

In 2014, François Bayrou became mayor of Pau.

A three-time presidential candidate, in February 2017 he renounced his bid for a fourth Élysée and offered Emmanuel Macron an “alliance” that would prove decisive for the future President of the Republic.
Following Emmanuel Macron’s election, François Bayrou was appointed Garde des Sceaux, Minister of Justice, in Édouard Philippe’s government. 34 days later, he was forced to resign over the alleged fictitious employment of Modem parliamentary attachés. On February 5, 2024, François Bayrou was acquitted in this case.

In September 2020, François Bayrou is appointed by Emmanuel Macron to head a Haut Commissariat au Plan.

On December 13, 2024, Emmanuel Macron chose him as Prime Minister following the resignation of the Barnier government.

What challenges will the new Prime Minister face?

At the handover ceremony on Friday December 13, François Bayrou declared that he was “well aware of the Himalayas that lie ahead, and of the difficulties of all kinds”.

François Bayrou becomes Prime Minister in an unprecedented situation: a National Assembly without a majority and a political crisis caused by the censure of the previous government.

Since Monday, parliamentary groups and party leaders have been received at Matignon “in order of importance”. After receiving Marine Le Pen and Jordan Bardella of the RN, the new Prime Minister will meet Gabriel Attal, before receiving the Socialists and then Laurent Wauquiez (LR). Consultations with parliamentary groups will focus on the drafting of the 2025 budget and the outlines of a non-censorship agreement, notably with the left, including the renunciation of the use of article 49 paragraph 3 of the Constitution.

The new Prime Minister’s busy schedule also includes other urgent matters: Moody’s downgraded France’s credit rating just a few hours after his appointment. The rating agency took note of the censure and failure to pass the 2025 Finance Bill, and judged that it would be more difficult to get the accounts back on track. But above all, Cyclone Chido, which hit the Mayotte archipelago on Saturday December 14, was a humanitarian disaster that left France’s poorest department in a state of desolation.