After becoming the first French president in two decades to win re-election, Emmanuel Macron now has to convince enough voters to once again give him a mandate in next month's legislative elections. A centrist who this time has to face an unusually united left, Macron has to persuade the electorate to stick with free-market reform, while shedding his "too clever for his own good" image.
Enter Elisabeth Borne, the 61-year old labour minister promoted to prime minister. How big a deal is the nomination of France's first female prime minister in 30 years? Cast from the same technocratic mould as Macron, originally a Socialist, she served as environment minister in a previous life. Does that make enough boxes ticked to appeal to the moderate left?
All this begs the broader question of what France wants. Under Macron, it has already been through a transport strike, the Yellow Vest movement, Covid-19 and now the war in Ukraine. What do citizens expect from their leadership and their government in times that are more uncertain than ever?
Produced by Juliette Laurain, Elise Marné and Imen Mellaz
