ParisCNN –
Gabriel Attal, the 34-year-old French education minister, has been named the country's new prime minister, a historic appointment by President Emmanuel Macron as he seeks to boost his government's waning popularity.
Attal will be France's youngest prime minister ever and the first openly gay man to hold the post – making him one of the most prominent and powerful LGBTQ politicians in the world.
Attal, a rising star in Macron's Renaissance Party, has been minister of education and national youth since July. During his term, he issued a controversial ban on the wearing of the abaya in French public schools and worked to raise awareness of bullying in schools.
“I know I can count on your energy and commitment,” Macron said in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, after the announcement.
In a separate post, Attal thanked Macron for his “trust” and promised to “remain in control of our destiny” and “unleash our French potential.”
Attal, in a speech after his nomination, mentioned education, inflation, the liberalization of the French economy and youth development as some of the country's priorities, but emphasized education as “the mother of our struggles, which must be at the heart of our priorities.” .”
“As Prime Minister, I will provide all the necessary resources for its success. It will be one of my absolute priorities as head of government,” he added.
Attal, like the French president, was associated with the center-left Socialist Party before joining Macron's centrist political movement. In recent years, he has at times leaned politically to the right, although he has maintained a shape-shifting political identity modeled after his boss.
Attal served as government spokesman during the pandemic, which immediately increased his profile among the general French public. Since then, his political career has been rapid for a man of his age. During Macron's second term, Attal was appointed head of the Ministry of Public Works and Public Finance before becoming Minister of Education.
As prime minister, he is tasked with forming a new government and ensuring the passage of legislation that advances the president's agenda. However, the greatest power lies with the French presidency.
He replaces Elisabeth Borne, who resigned from office on Monday after a tumultuous 20-month term marked by unpopular pension reforms and last summer's urban unrest following the police shooting of a teenager of Algerian descent.
At a handover ceremony alongside Borne on Tuesday, Attal described his predecessor as “a prime minister full of energy and courage”.
“Your personal history and your political ethics make you exemplary. We know what we owe you,” Attal said.
Borne, meanwhile, said she “carried out the projects that seemed right and necessary for our country” and was “proud of the work done over these almost 20 months.”
Borne became the first female prime minister in three decades when Macron appointed her to the post in May 2022, shortly after his re-election. In the general election the following month, her party failed to win an absolute majority, ultimately affecting her government's ability to pass new laws.
On more than 20 occasions, Borne invoked a constitutional clause that allowed the government to pass bills in the House of Commons without a vote, including raising the retirement age. Borne's repeated use of the tool led to accusations of anti-democratic behavior and earned her the nickname “Madame 49.3,” a reference to the clause itself.
Most recently, Borne's Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin was the initiator of a controversial immigration reform bill that, among other things, gave local prefects more powers to deal with undocumented workers while restricting the social benefits they can receive.
The law's supporters said the proposed reforms were popular with the French public, pointing to recent polls, while its critics argued it contained too many concessions to the far-right, such as restricting how one can obtain citizenship by birth. Longtime far-right figurehead Marine Le Pen called the bill an “ideological victory” for her political party.
Borne's departure was not surprising as it preceded a long-awaited cabinet reshuffle. Macron and his government are trailing in opinion polls, while Le Pen and the far-right enjoy unprecedented support.
The French president is likely to seek a political reset ahead of this summer's European elections and the Paris Olympics. Polls show that Attal is one of the most popular members of Macron's government.
Le Pen said on
“The road to sales starts on June 9th,” she said, referring to the upcoming EU vote.
CNN's Chris Liakos and Maya Szaniecki contributed to this report.