Formation Context In late December 2023, the passage of an immigration and 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
deputies defied the government by either abstaining or voting against the legislation. Hours after the bill was passed, Health Minister
Aurélien Rousseau resigned in protest; Higher Education Minister
Sylvie Retailleau offered her resignation as well although 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 Macron's will to replace her with a new officeholder. In her letter, she also quoted a line from her distant predecessor
Michel Rocard's own resignation letter, a reference to the fact that, like him, she was compelled to resign by the President while she would have wanted to carry on as head of government. Legal scholar Ariane Vidal-Naquet, in an op-ed in , said that Borne's "forced resignation" was "not consistent with the Constitution" even though it is widely accepted under a
presidential interpretation of the
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 Prime Minister In the run-up to Gabriel Attal's appointment as prime minister, news media cited several politicians as main contenders for the premiership: Defence Minister
Sébastien Lecornu, former
National Assembly President
Richard Ferrand, former Agriculture Minister
Julien Denormandie and Environment 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 the premiership, 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 prime minister from 2017 to 2020) or incumbent government 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. Prior to 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, 57% are former members of the conservative
UMP/
LR party. Furthermore, right-leaning politicians are left holding the largest government portfolios, such as the Interior, Finance, Defence, Labour, Health, Culture and Environment, 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, such as
Rima Abdul-Malak (Culture),
Clément Beaune (Transport) and
Olivier Véran (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 had taken place, Attal's government would have likely fallen as it was 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. The no-confidence motion substantially failed to receive enough votes to topple the cabinet since right-wing parties refused to support the attempt at this early stage in the government's tenure.
End On 9 June, Macron dissolved the National Assembly and
called for a snap election. Following the second round of the election on 7 July, which resulted in a
hung parliament, Attal announced his intent to submit his resignation to Macron the next day. However, the resignation was refused by Macron, who asked Attal to remain at least temporarily prime minister in order to help preserve stability. Attal's resignation was accepted on 16 July 2024. Despite this, Attal would stay on as head of a caretaker government, The left-wing alliance
New Popular Front proposed
Lucie Castets as Prime Minister but Macron refused to appoint her, arguing that no party had won a majority. Attal remained in place as the head of a
caretaker government, until
Michel Barnier was appointed as Prime minister on 5 September. Attal's ministers remained as caretakers until the
Barnier government was fully formed on 21 September. == Composition ==