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French Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne resigns

French Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne resigned on Monday, with French President Emmanuel Macron set to name a successor in a bid to relaunch his second term in office.

Published: 8 January 2024 18:16 CET

French Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne resigns

French Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne and French President Emmanuel Macron in January (Photo by Alain JOCARD and Ludovic MARIN / AFP)

As part of a long expected reshuffle Macron opted to replace his Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne, who had held the position for 20 months.

The favourites to become the next PM are 37-year-old Armed Forces minister Sebastien Lecornu, 43-year-old former agriculture minister Julien Denormandie and Education Minister Gabriel Attal, just 34, whose future has been the subject of intense speculation in recent hours.

A source close to the government told AFP that Attal was now the favourite to succeed Borne. If named, he would be France’s youngest ever and first openly gay prime minister.

Borne, aged 62, was only the second woman to lead a government in France. She had held talks with Macron at the Elysée on Monday afternoon, a sign that the reshuffle was imminent, and left about an hour later without making any announcement.

Macron paid tribute to Borne after accepting her resignation.

“Your work in serving the nation each day was exemplary,” he said.

Madame la Première ministre, chère @Elisabeth_Borne, votre travail au service de notre Nation a été chaque jour exemplaire. Vous avez mis en œuvre notre projet avec le courage, l’engagement et la détermination des femmes d’État. De tout cœur, merci. pic.twitter.com/G26ifKfKzj

— Emmanuel Macron (@EmmanuelMacron) January 8, 2024

In her resignation letter Borne said she had been “passionate about the mission” of being French prime minister and suggested her resignation was die to the “will” of the president to name a new PM.

Borne also said it was “vital more than ever to continue the reforms”.

In France, prime ministers are not directly elected and are instead appointed by the president. As such, it is not uncommon for French presidents to replace their prime ministers from time-to-time, based on the political climate at hand.

Commentators in France had been speculating that there would be a cabinet reshuffle for several days, particularly following the passing of the immigration bill last month, which went through with many controversial changes imposed by the centre-right opposition.

The reshuffle is seen as essential to relaunch Macron’s centrist presidency for its final three years, and prevent him becoming a “lame duck” leader.

Francois Bayrou, leader of the centrist MoDem party, whose early endorsement of Macron was key to his initial 2017 election success, told BFM TV that a change in government makeup was “necessary”.

While Macron cannot run again in 2027, relaunching his government is seen as crucial to help prevent far-right figurehead Marine Le Pen becoming president.

European Parliament elections in June will also pose a major test, with Macron’s Renaissance party risking embarrassment at the hands of Le Pen’s National Rally (RN).

Despite his age, Attal is a more political figure than the technocratic Borne, and polls have shown him to be one of the most popular government ministers.

If named, he would go toe-to-toe ahead of the European elections with another rising star of French politics, the even younger Jordan Bardella, just 28, who is now party leader of the far-right RN.

Other key posts are also subject to uncertainty.

Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin, 41, a right-winger who spearheaded the immigration reform but burned his fingers when it was initially rejected by parliament, was seen as a candidate for a new job, possibly as foreign minister.

But recent reports indicate he may stay in his post.

The future of Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna has also been the subject of speculation.

Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire, the only senior minister to be in office since Macron’s election in 2017, is likely to remain in his post.

Macron likes “keeping all options open until the last moment”, a source close to the Elysee said.

Member comments

Anonymous - 8 January 2024 at 18:43 CET

I would offer to re launch Macron myself. But he would not survive.

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Cohabitation

The far-right Rassemblement National of three-time presidential candidate Marine Le Pen and current party leader Jordan Bardella are tipped to be the party with most seats after the second round on July 7th.

If the RN and its allies did secure a majority in the Assemblée Nationale – and current polling suggests this is doubtful – Macron would find himself in a “cohabitation“, in which the president and government are from opposing parties.

Post-war France has experienced three such forced marriages. All were between the left and the centre-right with the last from 1997-2002 between President Jacques Chirac and Socialist premier Lionel Jospin.

Cohabitation: What happens in France’s political ‘forced marriages’?

A cohabition between the Macron and his far-right arch-enemies would likely be a much unhappier affair.

While the far-right would be able to implement part of its domestic programme, on, for example, curtailing immigration, only the president can call a referendum or trigger a vote on constitutional changes.

The president, who usually sets foreign and defence policy, could also find his hands tied if the RN appointed nationalist defence and foreign ministers opposed to his worldview.

Coalition

France has spurned coalitions since the post-war 4th Republic (1946-1958) when the country went through 22 governments in 12 years.

Since losing his parliamentary majority in 2022, Macron has sought to cobble together alliances in parliament on a vote-by-vote basis or to force through legislation without a vote rather than form a pact with another party.

The RN or the left could try do the same if they fall short of a majority but a minority government of the far-right or left would likely fail to pass a vote of no confidence.

Aware of the risks, RN leader Bardella has said he will refuse to become prime minister unless he wins an outright majority.

Macron’s camp hopes that in the event of a hung parliament it could form a coalition with moderates of the left and right.

As part of its outreach to possible allies, Macron’s party has not entered candidates in 67 constituencies where centre-right or centre-left candidates are running.

But Macron has limited his options by putting the hard-left La France Insoumise (LFI) — the dominant force in the NFP — on a par with the far-right in what he calls the country’s “extremes”. He accuses LFI of anti-Semitism, which it rejects.

Caretaker government

Another option would be for Macron to appoint a technocratic non-partisan government which all parties could get behind.

Camille Bedock, a political scientist at the Emile Durckheim centre in Bordeaux, cites the example of Italy, where respected former European Central Bank chief Mario Draghi formed a national unity government in 2021 when Italy was in turmoil. It lasted a year-and-a-half.

Bedock said Macron could also decide to leave the current government headed by his party’s Gabriel Attal in place in a caretaker capacity for a year. He could then call new elections.

This would have the benefit of ensuring continuity through the Olympic Games (July 26th – August 11th) when the country will be under intense global scrutiny.

Whether the far-right or left would support such a move, which would effectively buy Macron time to try turn around his presidency, is highly uncertain.

Macron resigns

The most dramatic scenario would see Macron resign if faced with the prospect of being neutered by the far right or the hard left.

Le Pen, who is expected to try succeed Macron in 2027 presidential polls, has warned that he “will have no choice but to resign” in the event of a “political crisis”.

Macron has vowed to remain on office until the end of his second term in 2027, whatever the outcome.

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