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Agence France-Presse

French Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne resigned on Monday as President Emmanuel Macron prepared to unveil a long-awaited cabinet reshuffle in a bid to give new momentum to the final three years of his presidency.
After days of intense behind-the-scenes manoeuvring, Education Minister Gabriel Attal, 34, was emerging as the favourite to succeed Borne.
If appointed, Attal would be France’s youngest ever and first openly gay prime minister.
“Ms Elisabeth Borne today submitted the resignation of the government to the president, who accepted it,” the presidency said in a statement.

It emphasised that she and other ministers would continue to handle daily business until a new government is named.
But Borne’s resignation letter to Macron, a copy of which was seen by Agence France-Presse, hinted that she would have preferred to stay in her job.
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“While I must present the resignation of my government, I wanted to tell you how passionate I was about this mission,” she wrote.
While some expected a new prime minister to be swiftly named during the evening, a source close to Macron said the announcement would come only on Tuesday morning.
It was not immediately clear if this was due to a deliberately slow choreography by the presidency or last-minute objections from heavyweight government figures over the possible naming of Attal.
Commentators see the reshuffle as essential to relaunch Macron’s centrist presidency for its last three years and prevent him becoming a “lame duck” leader after a series of crises.
Since he defeated the far-right to win a second term in 2022, Macron has faced protests over unpopular pension reforms, the loss of his overall majority in parliamentary elections and controversy over immigration legislation.
Borne, 62, the second woman to lead the French government, has weathered these problems but never dispelled doubts about her future.

Writing on X, Macron thanked her for “work in the service of our nation that has been exemplary every day”.
Other than Attal, possible candidates to succeed Borne include 37-year-old Defence Minister Sebastien Lecornu and 43-year-old Julien Denormandie, a former agriculture minister.
But a source close to the government said that Attal was now the favourite to succeed Borne.
Under the French system, the president sets general policies and the prime minister is responsible for day-to-day government management, meaning the latter often pays the price when an administration runs into turbulence.
While Macron cannot run again in 2027 presidential elections, relaunching his government is seen as crucial to help prevent far-right figurehead Marine Le Pen becoming president.
Macron faces backlash for calls to ‘cut off’ social media after French riots
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 in particular that of Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin, 41, a right-winger who spearheaded the immigration reform but burned his fingers when it was initially rejected by parliament.
The future of Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna and long-serving Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire was also uncertain.
Macron likes “keeping all options open until the last moment”, a source close to the Elysee said.
The new premier will be the fourth prime minister since 2017 under Macron, who is accused by critics of micromanaging and centralising power in the Elysee.
“I have a scoop for you. I know the name of the (new) prime minister,” left-wing politician Raphael Glucksmann joked on France 2 television.
“It’s Emmanuel Macron! And the foreign minister will also be Emmanuel Macron, as will the defence minister and the culture minister.”


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France

French PM Elisabeth Borne resigns as Emmanuel Macron seeks to relaunch presidency

French Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne and President Emmanuel Macron in 2023. File photo; AP

Education Minister Gabriel Attal could succeed Elizabeth Borne as prime minister. Photo: AFP

Elisabeth Borne was the second woman to lead the French government. Photo: AFP

Race to replace EU Council president after Charles Michel steps down

Charles Michel said on Sunday he will step down early from his position as European Council president. Photo: AFP

Hungarian President Viktor Orban. Photo: Le Pictorium via Zuma Press / dpa

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen at the Bozar centre in Brussels on Friday. Photo: AFP

EU losing 2 trade deals would look less like misfortune, more like carelessness

French President Emmanuel Macron speaks during a press conference during the second day of the EU Summit on December 15. Macron has seized upon a delay in negotiations over a trade deal between the European Union and Mercosur to register his strong disapproval given the potential effects on France’s agriculture sector. Photo: dpa

Argentina’s President-elect Javier Milei (left) speaks with Diana Mondino, then expected to be foreign minister in the new government, on a balcony of the San Martin Palace at the headquarters of the Argentine Foreign Ministry in Buenos Aires on December 9. Photo: EPA-EFE

Santiago Pena (left), president of Paraguay, Luis Inacio Lula da Silva (centre), president of Brazil, and Luis Arce, president of Bolivia, speak during a ceremony on the second day of the Mercosur summit in Rio de Janeiro on December 7. Mercosur will receive Bolivia as a full member and sign a trade agreement with Singapore after not having closed its negotiations with the European Union. Photo: AFP

Jacques Delors, father of European integration, dies at 98

Jacques Delors, former European Commission president, in Paris in 2007. Delors died on Wednesday at the age of 98. Photo: Reuters 

Former British prime minister Margaret Thatcher and former European Commission president Jacques Delors in London in 1989. Photo: AFP

Jacque Delors, right, and former French Socialist leader Francois Hollande in Paris in 2005. Photo: Reuters

Jacques Delors in Paris in 1984. Photo: AP

French couple who planned to ‘sacrifice’ their ‘possessed’ 5-year-old son arrested in Spain

A French couple have been arrested in Spain for planning to ‘sacrifice’ their ‘possessed’ 5-year-old son. Photo: Shutterstock Images

News

World

Europe

Shake-up could be an attempt by President Emmanuel Macron to head off a looming lame-duck status
Education Minister Gabriel Attal, 34, seen as a favourite to replace Elisabeth Borne as prime minister


Shake-up widely seen as an attempt by President Emmanuel Macron to head off a looming lame-duck status.


Emmanuel Macron

Diplomacy

European Union