Macron's pick Michel Barnier becomes French PM

Veteran French conservative Michel Barnier has taken over as prime minister, almost two months after France's snap elections ended in political stalemate.

President Emmanuel Macron named the EU's former chief Brexit negotiator, ending weeks of talks with political parties and potential candidates.

Mr Barnier, 73, arrived at the prime minister's residence at Hôtel Matignon in Paris on Thursday evening, taking over the role from Gabriel Attal, France's youngest ever prime minister who has been in office for the past eight months.

He will now have to form a government that can survive a National Assembly divided into three big political blocs, with none able to form a clear majority.

Having led the marathon talks on the UK's exit from the European Union between 2016 and 2019, he has considerable experience of political deadlock. He has had a long political career in France as well as the EU and has long been part of the right-wing Republicans (LR) party.

Known in France as Monsieur Brexit, Mr Barnier is France's oldest prime minister since the Fifth Republic came into being in 1958.

Three years ago, he tried and failed to become his party's candidate to take on President Macron for the French presidency. He said he wanted to limit and take control of immigration.

President Macron first appointed Mr Attal as prime minister in early 2024 and he has stayed in post as caretaker since July. In his farewell speech outside Hôtel Matignon, Mr Attal said "French politics is sick, but a cure is possible, provided that we all agree to move away from sectarianism".

It has taken President Macron 60 days to make up his mind on choosing a prime minister, having called a "political truce" during the Paris Olympics.

But Mr Barnier will need all his political skills to navigate the coming weeks, with the centre-left Socialists already planning to challenge his appointment with a vote of confidence.

Mr Macron's presidency lasts until 2027. Normally the government comes from the president's party, as they are elected weeks apart.

But the man who has called himself "the master of the clocks" changed that when he called snap elections in June and his centrists came second to the left-wing New Popular Front.

President Macron has interviewed several potential candidates for the role of prime minister, but his task was complicated by the need to come up with a name who could survive a so-called censure vote on their first appearance in the National Assembly.

The Elysée Palace said that by appointing Mr Barnier, the president had ensured that the prime minister and future government would offer the greatest possible stability and the broadest possible unity.

Mr Barnier had been given the task of forming a unifying government "in the service of the country and the French people", the presidency stressed.

Mr Macron's presidency lasts until 2027. Normally the government comes from the president's party, as they are elected weeks apart.

But the man who has called himself "the master of the clocks" changed that when he called snap elections in June and his centrists came second to the left-wing New Popular Front.

President Macron has interviewed several potential candidates for the role of prime minister, but his task was complicated by the need to come up with a name who could survive a so-called censure vote on their first appearance in the National Assembly.

The Elysée Palace said that by appointing Mr Barnier, the president had ensured that the prime minister and future government would offer the greatest possible stability and the broadest possible unity.

Mr Barnier had been given the task of forming a unifying government "in the service of the country and the French people", the presidency stressed.