PARIS — France’s new prime minister couldn’t be more different from President Emmanuel Macron. The 73-year-old father of six speaks the béarnais dialect of the Pyrenees, owns a tractor, and spends a lot of time in the village where he was born.
Yet Bayrou, the founder of centrist party MoDem and a familiar figure in French politics, was one of Macron’s earliest political supporters. That has given him a special relationship with — and even some leverage over — the French president, making him a key ally who enjoys an unusual degree of freedom.
Bayrou replaces former European Commissioner Michel Barnier, who was toppled as PM in a no-confidence vote in parliament earlier this month. At the helm of a new government, his No. 1 mission will be to wrestle public finances back into shape by passing a slimmed-down budget through a fractured parliament.
Here are 11 things to know about Bayrou:
1. He strong-armed Macron into becoming prime minister
It wasn’t supposed to be him. On Friday, Macron was poised to appoint someone else when Bayrou put his foot down.
Outgoing Armed Forces Minister Sébastien Lecornu and former Industry Minister Roland Lescure were being considered as possible replacements for Barnier, according to two people familiar with talks. Both Lecornu and Lescure are staunch loyalists who would have been completely dependent on Macron, and therefore more pliable.
On Friday morning, Macron invited Bayrou to the Elysée Palace to inform him of his decision. Bayrou, however, wanted the top job himself, and threatened to stop supporting the president if he were not appointed.
In the faceoff between the president and his longtime supporter, it was Macron who blinked. The French president “can’t say no” to Bayrou, a centrist parliamentary adviser said. “It was hard for Macron, Bayrou is the only person in Paris he is indebted to.”
Bayrou’s victory is also seen as another sign of how weakened Macron has become.
“Paradoxically it can give François Bayrou a freedom that he wouldn’t have normally had,” former President François Hollande observed.
2. He ran for president (a lot) …
Bayrou has been as unfortunate in politics as Macron has been fortunate. The former minister under ex-President Jacques Chirac stood three times for president and failed three times.
But when he spotted Macron as a rising political star, he ditched his own political ambitions and backed the then-economy minister. The support came at a crucial moment for Macron, who was pressing to break through in a crowded political landscape.
Bayrou was even caught on camera telling Macron that “you are not old enough, but it doesn’t matter. If you can succeed where I have failed, I will help you.”
3. … and campaigned on debt reduction
During his first speech as prime minister on Friday, Bayrou spent a considerable time discussing France’s growing debt problem.
“I’ve taken reckless risks in my political life to raise … the issue of debt and deficits. I even ran presidential campaigns on this theme,” Bayrou said.
He has his work cut out for him. Just hours after he took office, Moody’s cut its rating on France and said the downgrade “reflects our view that the country’s public finances will be substantially weakened over the coming years.”
4. Marine Le Pen doesn’t hate him …
Far-right presidential candidate Marine Le Pen and Bayrou are poles apart on the political spectrum, but relations aren’t bad between the two veterans, which is important for France’s stability and ability to agree on finances.
Bayrou appeared to kick off his premiership on the right foot with Le Pen, who hailed “a more positive method” after meeting with him on Monday. Relations between the pair of three-time losers for the presidency go way back, with Bayrou having at times helped Le Pen with sensitive issues, notably funding structures.
Despite her election successes, the far-right leader often struggled to get bank loans and the backing needed from elected officials to stand in presidential elections. The centrist heavyweight has long campaigned to create an institution that would help parties secure loans, a top priority for Le Pen, who in 2016 had to get a loan from a Russian bank to finance her presidential bid.
In 2022, Bayrou sponsored Le Pen to allow her to run for the presidency against Macron; it was an effort, he said, to “save democracy.”
Le Pen ultimately toppled Bayrou’s predecessor Barnier earlier this month, so Le Pen’s tacit support for Bayrou could be crucial.
5. … but Sarkozy does
For decades French centrists have aligned with the right, but Bayrou envisions a centrist politics equidistant from conservatives and social democrats, and has pursued that goal across three presidential runs.
This alienated conservatives, especially former President Nicolas Sarkozy, whose hardline views on immigration and polarizing politics were loathed by Bayrou. In 2012, the centrist even voted for Socialist François Hollande against Sarkozy, who lost the election.
The antipathy is mutual. Sarkozy called Bayrou’s appointment “appalling,” La Tribune reported on Sunday. In a 2020 book, he wrote: “Bayrou has always betrayed … Emmanuel Macron will also know that bitter experience.”
Bayrou’s strained ties with the right may now hurt his ability to secure support from the conservative Les Républicains, which would be crucial for sustaining a minority government.
6. An early supporter of EU federalism …
Like Macron, Bayrou sees France’s future as within the European Union. The new premier spoke out decades ago in favor of greater integration within the Union, while in 1999 he led a European election campaign pushing for a “European federation.”
“The federalism I defend is cooperative, decentralized and respects nations and freedoms,” he said in a 2012 interview.
7. … and a big fan of proportional representation
Bayrou has long advocated that France drop its current two-round voting system across constituencies in legislative votes in favor of proportional representation.
This could work to his advantage: A move toward proportional representation is one of the rare proposals backed by lawmakers across the spectrum.
8. He once slapped a child, and wants to regulate kids’ screen-time
During his 2002 presidential run, Bayrou slapped a child whom he accused of pick-pocketing. Hitting a child might seem like a career-ending move — but reporting from that time shows it may have helped him.
Bayrou, a former teacher who served as education minister for four years in the 1990s, made gains with undecided voters after the slap, a poll commissioned by Le Monde shortly before the election showed.
On education, Bayrou has shown concern for the impact that screens could be having on children’s “intelligence, on their intellectual and physical development.”
9. He struggled with a stutter
Nowadays Bayrou is known for his slow speech and for his tendency to over-articulate his words. It’s the result of a stutter he spent most of his childhood trying to vanquish, an experience he has described in interviews as bitterly painful.
10. He wants Paris to play less of a role in French politics
Bayrou has criticized the French tendency to concentrate power around Paris — even under Macron’s presidency.
Last February he called out a “constant, ongoing, progressive and increasingly serious rift between the people and power structures,” and criticized then-Prime Minister Gabriel Attal for having an administration made up mostly of ministers from the French capital region.
11. He still faces prosecution
In 2017 Bayrou was appointed justice minister but resigned within a month after coming under formal investigation for allegedly embezzling European Parliament funds.
At the time, Macron’s policy was that no one under formal investigation could be kept in government.
Bayrou was eventually acquitted, but prosecutors appealed the decision and he is now expected to face a new trial next September.
Le Pen is currently on trial over similar allegations that threaten to derail her presidential ambitions. She maintains her innocence.
Pauline de Saint Remy contributed reporting.
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