Macron Confirms Education Min Attal As New PM

As had been widely expected, President Emmanuel Macron has appointed Education Minister Gabriel Attal as France's new prime minister following the resignation of Elisabeth Borne on 8 Jan. Attal is 34 years old, but has had a relatively lengthy political career. Having been a member of the centre-left Socialist Party (PS) during his student days he joined Macron's En Marche in 2016. He won a seat in the National Assembly for the Hauts-de-Seine's 10th constituency, an area covering Paris' wealthy western suburbs, in the 2017 legislative election.

• During much of his tenure in the assembly he also served as a spokesman for En Marche. He resigned from the legislature in Oct 2018 to serve as Secretary of State to the Minister of National Education and Youth.
• Attal held this post until 2020 when he was appointed Gov't Spokesperson, the minister in charge of public affairs. Then in May 2022, following his re-election to the Hauts-de-Seine's 10th constituency, he was appointed Minister of Public Action and Accounts (Budget Minister) in the Borne gov't, before being promoted to Minister of National Education and Youth in July 2023. As Education Minister, Attal announcedthe controversial ban on Islamic dress in schools, seen by observers as an attempt to outflank parties on the right.
• It remains to be seen the extent of Macron's wider Cabinet reshuffle, as to whether he will simply seek to replace Attal as Education Minister or enact a wider shift in ministerial positions in an effort to reinvigorate his gov't.