French Prime Minister Borne Quits; Replacement Not Yet Named

(Bloomberg) -- French Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne resigned on Monday to make way for a successor as President Emmanuel Macron seeks to give fresh momentum to his reform agenda ahead of European elections in June.

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She will continue to run the government until her replacement is named, according to a statement from the president’s office. French media reported that Education Minister Gabriel Attal, 34, was emerging as the favorite.

Macron thanked Borne for her work and service in a post on social media platform X. He wasn’t expected to name a successor before Tuesday morning, Agence France-Presse said.

In a letter to her boss cited by AFP, Borne said the president had told her he wanted to replace her. She added that the government must continue to pursue reforms.

A former labor, environment and transport minister who was known for being a technocrat, Borne was only the second woman to hold the post in France. She was appointed in 2022 shortly after Macron’s reelection on a reform platform.

She has struggled to build a coalition to pass legislation in the National Assembly after Macron lost his outright majority in 2022, and had to resort last year to using a constitutional provision to push through an unpopular retirement reform without a full vote.

The change in government comes just weeks after lawmakers approved an immigration bill that passed with conservatives’ votes, deepening fractures within Macron’s party. The new legislation prompted the resignation of the health minister and fueled anger among the president’s left-leaning supporters.

Macron and Borne have both suffered from weak polling figures. Only 23% of those surveyed had confidence in Borne, according to a poll this month by Elabe for Les Echos, while 27% had faith in Macron. The same poll found that Attal was the second-most popular politician in France, with a 39% approval rating, trailing only former Prime Minister Edouard Philippe and just ahead of far-right National Rally leader Marine Le Pen.

(Updates with timing of successor announcement in third paragraph.)

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