Attal Government

The Attal government ( French: ''gouvernement Attal'') is the forty-fourth and most recent government of the French Fifth Republic, formed on 9 January 2024 and headed by Gabriel Attal as Prime Minister under the presidency of Emmanuel Macron.

The Attal cabinet is a three-party minority government as a result of the 2022 legislative election that left the governing coalition short of an absolute majority in Parliament.

History

Formation

Context

In late December 2023, the passage of an immigration & asylum bill originating from a deal struck between Borne's minority government and the conservative LR party left Macron's governing coalition in political crisis, especially after some left-leaning ministers threatened to resign if the bill was passed, something which was seen as a major breach of collective responsibility, while scores of Macronist MPs defied the government by either abstaining or voting against the legislation. Hours after the bill was passed, Health minister Aurélien Rousseau resigned in protest and Higher Education minister Sylvie Retailleau offered her resignation as well but President Macron refused it. Others, such as Transport minister Clément Beaune, voiced their opposition to the bill but did not quit.

As 2024 approached, news media began to speculate about a potential change of Prime minister in a last-ditch effort by Macron both to revive his second presidential term and reassert his diminished political authority.

Élisabeth Borne's resignation

When Élisabeth Borne resigned as Prime minister on 8 January 2024, she made clear in her resignation letter that she was not doing so of her own initiative but rather to comply with President Macron's will to replace her with a new PM. In her letter, she also quoted a line from distant predecessor Michel Rocard's letter, a reference to the fact that, like him, she was compelled to resign by the President and that she would have wanted to carry on as head of government.

Legal scholar Ariane Vidal-Naquet, in an op-ed in ''Le Monde'', said that Borne's "forced resignation" was "not consistent with the Constitution" even though it is widely accepted under a presidential interpretation of the French Constitution.

After Borne resigned on 8 January, she remained Prime minister in a caretaking capacity until handing over to Attal a day later.

Attal's appointment as PM

In the run-up to Gabriel Attal's appointment as Prime minister, news media cited several politicians as main contenders for the Premiership: Defense minister Sébastien Lecornu, former National Assembly President Richard Ferrand, former minister Julien Denormandie and Ecological Transition minister Christophe Béchu were among the names cited for Macron's pick.

Hours before the appointment, when Attal emerged as the most likely pick for PM, several prominent figures inside Macron's camp, such as junior coalition partners François Bayrou (MoDem party leader) and Édouard Philippe ( Horizons party leader and Macron's PM from 2017 to 2020) or Ministers such as Interior minister Gérald Darmanin and Finance minister Bruno Le Maire, reportedly opposed the pick and tried to weigh in on the presidential decision.

Before being appointed as Prime minister, Attal was the most popular minister in Macron's cabinet according to polling data. Upon taking office, Attal became both the youngest head of government in French modern history and youngest state leader in the world. He is also the first openly LGBT person to lead a French government.

Choice for cabinet posts

The new Attal cabinet was widely described as the most right-leaning government since the start of the Macron Presidency: out of the 14 Cabinet ministers appointed on 11 January 2024 by Macron and Attal, 57% are former members of the conservative UMP/LR party. Furthermore, right-leaning politicians are left holding the biggest government portfolios, such as the Interior, Finance, Defense, Labour, Health, Culture and Ecology ministries, a political configuration seen as indicating a tilt to the right.

Additionally, longtime Macron allies and prominent left-leaning ministers of the outgoing Borne government, Rima Abdul-Malak (Culture), Clément Beaune (Transports), Stanislas Guerini (Civil Service) and Olivier Véran (Government Spokesperson), were sacked as part of the reshuffle.

Parliamentary history

Vote of confidence

On 16 January 2024, Attal announced that, like Élisabeth Borne before him, he would not be seeking a vote of confidence in the National Assembly as it is implicitly allowed in the French Constitution. If a confidence vote were to take place, Attal's government would likely fall since it is 39 seats short of an overall majority in the lower house.

As it was widely expected, left-wing LFI leader Manuel Bompard announced that his parliamentary group would table a motion of no confidence in response to Attal's decision.

Initial composition

As it is customary, Secretary General of the Presidency Alexis Kohler announced the new government's composition on 11 January 2024 from the Élysée Palace. Members of the previous government remained in office under a caretaking capacity until the appointment of the new government, as provided for in the French Constitution.

Ministers

;Deputy Ministers

Civil service

* Emmanuel Moulin, Chief of Staff to the Prime minister

References

{{Emmanuel Macron

2024 establishments in France
Cabinets established in 2024
French governments
Presidency of Emmanuel Macron
Current governments
Gabriel Attal