Live: France’s Macron expected to name new PM after days of political deadlock

Announcement of new PM comes one day later than expected

The Elysée Palance announced late Thursday that a statement naming France’s new PM will be published on Friday morning, one day later than expected.

Macron originally set a 48-hour deadline for naming the PM at a meeting of political party leaders on Tuesday, and was expected to announce his pick on Thursday evening upon his return from a trip to Poland.

But in a sign of the stalemate in French politics, Macron missed the 48-hour deadline. 

“They’re in a bind’, there’s a barrage of opposition against every name,” a source close to Macron told French media on Thursday, noting that the president could “surprise everyone” with an unexpected prime ministerial pick.

Bayrou expected for Élysée morning meeting, says French media

Centrist French politician Francois Bayrou, whose name is often cited as a possible successor to acting Prime Minister Michel Barnier, was expected to meet President Emmanuel Macron at the Élysée palace early this morning, French media reported on Friday.

Bayrou, leader of the centrist MoDem party, is to meet the president at 8:30 am (0730 GMT), sources close to the talks said.

• The nomination of a new PM comes after Macron held two days of meetings with party leaders to agree on a candidate who can bridge divides and pass a budget for next year. The meetings at the Élysée Palace excluded both the far-right National Rally party and the hard-left France Unbowed.

• Prime Minister Michel Barnier was toppled in a no-confidence vote last week when a leftist alliance and the far right joined forces to oust him after he pushed his unpopular budget bill through parliament without a vote. Barnier, who was supported by the conservative Les Républicains and Macron’s centre-right camp, remains in a caretaker capacity. 

• Whoever is named prime minister will have to build consensus around the best way to address France’s growing budget deficit, which stands at 6.1 percent – up from 5.5 percent last year and exceeding the 4.4 percent forecast for end of 2024. Macron’s office has said a stopgap 2025 budget law to allow the French state to keep functioning will be debated in December.

Possible contenders for PM

Macron ally François Bayrou has been tipped as a possible choice for prime minister. Bayrou is a former justice minister acquitted this year of embezzling EU funds.

Other candidates include former foreign minister Jean-Yves Le Drian or current Defence Minister Sebastien Lecornu – both members of Macron’s Renaissance party – as well as former prime minister Bernard Cazeneuve of the Socialist Party.

Macron ally Catherine Vautrin, who the president has considered for PM in the past; François Baroin, a member of Les Républicains who has served as both interior and economy minister; and French central bank chief François Villeroy de Galhau are also reportedly in the running.

How did we get here?

Following a victory by the far right in June’s European elections, Macron dissolved the National Assembly, France’s lower house, and called a snap parliamentary vote. While the leftist New Popular Front coalition won the most seats, no party ended up winning an outright majority.

After two months of tense ambivalence, Macron appointed a new prime minister in early September. Michel Barnier, a former foreign minister and Brexit negotiator, spearheaded France’s new government – which turned out to be dominated by conservatives and centrists.

Fast-forward three months and everything crumbled, yet again. After Barnier evoked a rarely used article (known as the “nuclear option”) to push through his unpopular 2025 budget without a parliamentary vote, both the left-wing New Popular Front alliance and the far-right National Rally tabled votes of no confidence.

Both succeeded, toppling Barnier and his government. It was the first time a French government has fallen to a no-confidence vote in more than 60 years and earned Barnier the dubious title of modern France’s shortest-serving prime minister.