Macron Names Francois Bayrou As France's New Prime Minister

Francois Bayrou, a veteran politician, has been appointed as French prime minister on Friday. President Emmanuel Macron named the new PM after a historic parliamentary vote that ousted the previous government last week. Bayrou, the 73-year-old centrist and leader of the Democratic Movement, is the country's fourth prime minister this year.

Former PM Michel Barnier resigned last week after losing a confidence vote in the lower house of parliament. Notably, 331 of the 577 legislators from both the left and the right voted to remove Barnier. “No one knows better than me the difficulty of the situation,” Bayrou said, as quoted by Al Jazeera. A former education minister and mayor of the southwestern town of Pau, Francois Bayrou has been an ally and close confidente to President Macron.

Getting a 2025 budget through parliament is one of Bayrou’s first responsibilities as prime minister. Reports suggest that the country currently has a public deficit equivalent to 6.1% of its GDP, which the new PM will have to address. According to European Union rules, member countries are required to have a budget deficit of no more than 3% of GDP.