Gabriel Attal becomes France’s youngest, first gay PM

France’s president Emmanuel Macron on Tuesday named country’s education minister Gabriel Attal with which the the 34-year-old became France’s youngest and first openly gay head of government, news agency AFP reported after Elisabeth Borne resigned from the post.

Elisabeth Borne served less than two years in office and resigned ahead of a widely expected cabinet reshuffle.

“The president of the republic appointed Mr Gabriel Attal prime minister, and tasked him with forming a government,” a presidential statement said as per AFP.

The leader of Macron’s Renaissance party Sylvain Maillard congratulated Gabriel Attal on X (formerly Twitter) saying, “I am sure that you will be able to faithfully carry out our project and embody the values that are ours.”

Who is France’s new PM Gabriel Attal?

Gabriel Attal is a close ally of Emmanuel Macron who was the government spokesman during Covid pandemic. He is one of the country’s most popular politicians in recent opinion polls who has made a name for himself as a savvy minister, easy on radio shows as well as in parliament.

He will be France’s youngest prime minister and the first to be openly gay, France MP Patrick Vignal said, adding, “Gabriel Attal is a bit like the Macron of 2017” as when the French president took office he was the youngest leader in modern French history.

Gabriel Attal “is clear, he has authority”, the MP said.

Why Emmanuel Macron has chosen Gabriel Attal for the post?

Emmanuel Macron has struggled to deal with a more turbulent parliament since losing his absolute majority in 2022. Emmanuel Macron and Gabriel Attal can together bring a new lease of life to the government but opposition leader said that the French president will himself take on much of the decision-making.

“Elisabeth Borne, Gabriel Attal or someone else, I don’t care, it will just be the same policies,” Socialist Party leader Olivier Faure said.