The Bayrou government (French: gouvernement Bayrou) is the forty-sixth and incumbent government of France. It was formed in December 2024 after President Emmanuel Macron appointed François Bayrou as Prime Minister on 13 December, replacing caretaker Michel Barnier, after losing a motion of no-confidence, something that has not happened since 1962. The motion was supported by the vast majority of New Popular Front and National Rally MPs and all Union of the Right for the Republic MPs.
Bayrou government | |
|---|---|
 | |
| 46th Government of French Fifth Republic | |
 | |
| Date formed | 13 December 2024 |
| People and organisations | |
| President of the Republic | Emmanuel Macron |
| Prime Minister | François Bayrou |
| No. of ministers | 35[a] |
| Member parties | |
| Status in legislature |
|
| History | |
| Election | 2024 French legislative election |
| Predecessor | Barnier government |
François Bayrou is the fourth prime minister to hold the office in a single year, the most in the history of the Fifth Republic.
Formation
editContext
editBarnier Government
editFollowing gains by opposition parties in the legislative elections called by President Emmanuel Macron in the summer of 2024, the prime minister, Gabriel Attal, the youngest person and the first openly gay person to serve as French prime minister, resigned. Macron initially refused his resignation but accepted it on 16 July.[1] On 5 September, Barnier was appointed as prime minister by Macron.[2] At the age of 73, Barnier was the oldest person to take office as prime minister under the Fifth Republic. The period between Attal's resignation and Barnier's appointment was the longest period that the French Fifth Republic had spent without a prime minister.[3] Dominique Moïsi, a French political scientist, described Barnier as a compromise candidate, chosen to be acceptable to parties from the centre, the right and the far right.[4]
Barnier's initial challenges as Prime Minister were forming a new government, passing the vote of confidence (with a minimum of 289 out of 577 votes) and submitting the 2025 budget by 1 October to parliament according to Reuters, further remarking that it would "be no easy task with the budget deficit already this year running billions of euros over _target, leaving Barnier tough choices about calibrating spending cuts and tax rises" and risking the government's position in parliament.[5] On 6 September, Barnier stated that he would continue some of Macron's policies, including refusing to repeal the raising of the retirement age to 64. On immigration he said, "There still is a feeling that our borders are sieves and that migration flows aren't being controlled."[6] In an interview, he remarked that the new government would include the "presidential camp" and "maybe maybe ministers of the previous government".[7]
Barnier was faced with a National Assembly divided nearly evenly into three blocs: the leftist New Popular Front with a plurality of seats, Macron's centrist to centre-right Ensemble, and the far-right National Rally.[2][8] Marine Le Pen, the leader of National Rally, praised Barnier as "respectful of National Rally voters", but expressed caution as to his legislative agenda. The New Popular Front rejected Barnier's appointment and called for demonstrations against Macron. Olivier Faure, the leader of the Socialist Party, accused Macron of a "denial of democracy."[3] Jean-Luc Mélenchon, the leader of the left-wing La France Insoumise, said that Macron had "stolen" the election by not appointing a prime minister from the New Popular Front[9] and called for protests against the new government.[10] According to France's Interior Ministry, around 110,000 people took part in these protests, which were held in Paris,[11] Montauban,[12] Nice, Lille, Strasbourg and Montpellier, as well as in several rural areas.[13]
On 2 December 2024, Barnier invoked article 49.3 of the French Constitution to adopt the Social Security budget for 2025 without submitting it to a parliamentary vote.[14] The decision happened after several last-ditch concessions to find a compromise failed, prompting both the New Popular Front and the National Rally to file motions of no confidence against his government.[15][16] On 4 December, three months into his tenure, the Barnier government collapsed by a vote of no confidence in National Assembly in a 331–244 vote, with the support of all deputies from La France Insoumise, The Ecologists and Union of the Right for the Republic, and also the Socialist Party (except for Sophie Pantel) and National Rally (save for Sophie Blanc). Barnier's government became the first to lose a motion of no-confidence since Georges Pompidou's in 1962.[17]
Searching a new Prime Minister
editPrime Minister Michel Barnier then presented his government's resignation in the evening to the President of the Republic, who accepted it.[18] He ensured that current affairs were handled with the government pending the formation of a new government from 6 to 13 December.
After the resignation of the Barnier government, negotiations took place between the President of the Republic and the various parliamentary groups, with the exception of the LFI, RN and UDR. These discussions led Olivier Faure, First Secretary of the Socialist Party, to consider a non-censorship agreement on the condition that the Prime Minister be left-wing.
Over the course of a week, various candidates were considered for the position of Prime Minister, including Bernard Cazeneuve, Sebastien Lecornu, François Villeroy de Galhau, François Baroin, Roland Lescure and François Bayrou.
Bayrou's appointment as Prime Minister
edit
After being rejected the day before on 12 December, Bayrou met the President at the Élysée the following morning. At the end of a long, heated discussion (with fears of a break with the MoDem), Emmanuel Macron finally appointed him Prime Minister on 13 December 2024.[19] At 73 years old, he is the second oldest serving Prime Minister, after Michel Barnier, to come to power. He is also considered a loyal supporter of President Macron,[20] whom he supported in 2017 presidential election.[21] He was nominated Minister of State and Justice in the first Philippe Government, between May and June 2017.
François Bayrou was supported by the Macronist bloc, while being rejected by La France Insoumise, while the other left-wing parties and the far right were awaiting the measures taken by the Prime Minister.
Bayrou, in his speech, recalled the importance of social justice, republicanism, national reconciliation, the need to overcome a serious crisis that is ravaging Europe and France, and thanked Barnier for his work as Prime Minister. The case of corruption for embezzlement of European funds, of which Bayrou was acquitted in autumn 2023 due to lack of evidence, was widely reported in the media.
The Socialist Party, in a letter to the new Prime Minister, asked him to give up applying article 49.3 of the Constitution in exchange for no censure, announced that socialists members "will not participate in government and will therefore remain in opposition in Parliament", and blamed the President for "aggravating the political crisis".[22]
Composition
editMinisters
editDeputy Ministers
editNotes
edit- ^ Does not include the Prime Minister.
References
edit- ^ "DIRECT. Législatives : Gérald Darmanin appelle le camp présidentiel à "travailler avec LR"". Le Parisien. 16 July 2024. Archived from the original on 6 September 2024. Retrieved 16 July 2024.
- ^ a b "Live blog: Macron names Michel Barnier new prime minister". France24. 5 September 2024. Retrieved 5 September 2024.
- ^ a b Cohen, Roger; Breeden, Aurelian (5 September 2024). "Breaking Impasse, Macron Names a Right-Wing Prime Minister". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 6 September 2024. Retrieved 6 September 2024.
- ^ Beardsley, Eleanor (5 September 2024). "France names conservative Michel Barnier as prime minister, irking leftist vote winners". NPR. Archived from the original on 6 September 2024. Retrieved 6 September 2024.
- ^ "Michel Barnier's first challenges as France's new PM". Reuters. 5 September 2024.
- ^ Salaün, Tangi; Kar-Gupta, Sudip (7 September 2024). "New French PM Barnier pledges to defend key Macron policies, hints at rightward shift". Reuters.
- ^ "Michel Barnier is a PM representing a break in continuity". 7 September 2024. Retrieved 8 September 2024.
- ^ "Macron's Choice of French Premier Shows His Ambitions Unraveling". Bloomberg.com. 5 September 2024. Archived from the original on 6 September 2024. Retrieved 5 September 2024.
- ^ "Macron appoints conservative Michel Barnier as prime minister". Le Monde. 5 September 2024. Retrieved 6 September 2024.
- ^ Irish, John (7 September 2024). "Thousands protest in France against Macron's choice of prime minister". Reuters. Retrieved 7 September 2024.
- ^ Khalil, Hafsa (7 September 2024). "France sees thousands protest over new centre-right PM Barnier". BBC News. Archived from the original on 7 September 2024. Retrieved 7 September 2024.
- ^ Adamson, Thomas (7 September 2024). "Thousands protest across France over Michel Barnier being named prime minister". The Independent. Archived from the original on 10 September 2024. Retrieved 8 September 2024.
- ^ Clayton, Freddie (7 September 2024). "France's left rage at Macron for shutting them out of power despite election victory". NBC News. Archived from the original on 7 September 2024. Retrieved 7 September 2024.
- ^ "Budget de la sécurité sociale: Michel Barnier active le 49.3 et s'expose à une motion de censure". Ouest-France.fr (in French). 2 December 2024. Retrieved 4 December 2024.
- ^ "DIRECT. Motion de censure: Michel Barnier joue sa survie à l'Assemblée nationale". L'Express (in French). 4 December 2024. Retrieved 4 December 2024.
- ^ Willsher, Kim (2 December 2024). "French government faces no-confidence vote on Wednesday". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 4 December 2024.
- ^ "En direct: 331 députés votent la censure du gouvernement de Michel Barnier, le premier ministre va remettre sa démission à Emmanuel Macron". Le Monde.fr (in French). Retrieved 4 December 2024.
- ^ "Le Premier ministre a remis ce jour la démission de son Gouvernement au Président de la République qui en a pris acte". elysee.fr (in French). 2024-12-05. Retrieved 2024-12-13.
- ^ "Le Président de la République a nommé M. François Bayrou Premier ministre, et l'a chargé de former un Gouvernement". elysee.fr (in French). 2024-12-13. Retrieved 2024-12-13.
- ^ Grégoire Poussielgue (2024-12-13). "François Bayrou nommé Premier ministre". Les Echos. Retrieved 2024-12-13.
- ^ "Présidentielle : Bayrou et Macron, une alliance sous conditions". Le Monde. Agence France-Presse. 22 February 2017. Archived from the original on 23 February 2017. Retrieved 23 February 2017.
- ^ "François Bayrou à Matignon: "pas de censure a priori" pour le RN; le PS demande au nouveau premier ministre de renoncer au 49.3... les premières réactions politiques". Le Monde. 13 December 2024.