Aged just 34, Gabriel Attal has become the youngest prime minister in French history – a strong symbol as President Emmanuel Macron looks to revitalise his weakened government for the second half of his final term. He's also facing off challenges from the equally young far-right leader Jordan Bardella, a hot favourite in the upcoming European elections.
Attal took over from 62-year-old Elisabeth Borne on Tuesday after a lightning five-month stint as education minister.
Macron's fourth prime minister, Attal is a stark contrast to his predecessor. Not only is he the youngest PM of the Fifth Republic – founded in 1958 – he is also France's first openly gay head of government.
His civil partner is Stéphane Séjourné, an MEP with France's governing Renaissance party, of which he also serves as secretary-general. Séjourné was a political adviser to Macron until 2021.
While Attal is no gay activist, LGBT+ groups welcomed his nomination.
"It's going in the right direction showing that in France in 2024 you can be prime minister and be gay," said Joël Deumier, co-president of the non-profit SOS Homophobie.
Attal is the son of Yves Attal, a successful lawyer and film producer of Tunisian Jewish descent. He grew up in Paris and attended the prestigious Ecole Alsacienne private school.
Attal took an early interest in politics, joining student protests in 2006 to get the then conservative government to drop its unpopular First Job Contract (CPE).
He graduated from SciencesPo university with a masters in public affairs, though his career has been largely confined to the political sphere.
From left to centre-right
Attal has enjoyed a meteoric rise, going from intern to PM in just over a decade.
He joined the Socialist Party in 2006 and after a stint of work experience under Socialist health minister Marisol Touraine in 2012, he secured a full-time post at the Health Ministry at just 23.
He was elected to the town council of Vanves, near Paris, two years later.
In 2016 Attal quit the Socialist Party to join Macron's centrist political movement En Marche! – later renamed La République En Marche, and then Renaissance – where he threw his energy into getting the former banker and political outsider into the Elysée.
When Macron was elected in 2017, Attal won a place in a select group of articulate, well-educated young men charged with advising and supporting the president. He has remained a close and loyal ally ever since.
Attal won a seat in the 2017 legislative elections and was the youngest politician to hold a government post when, aged 29, he was named secretary of state at the Education Ministry.
Subsequent posts include public accounts minister and most recently education minister, where he introduced a school ban on the wearing of abayas – a dress worn by some Muslim girls. The ban was popular, not least with conservative Republicans.
Attal also introduced measures to combat bullying.
The youth factor
But it was his time as government spokesperson from 2020-2022 that separated Attal from the pack.
Despite a notable faux pas when he announced that no teacher would earn less than 2,000 euros a month in 2022 – whereas the measure would apply only in 2024 – he excelled in the tricky task of after-sales service, fielding questions in parliament and press conferences.
His ability to think and speak on his feet earned him the nickname "Sniper des Mots" (Verbal Sniper).
With Macron's government weakened since his party lost its majority in parliament, the president is betting on Attal's communication skills and youthful energy to shore up support on the right for his reform agenda.
Recent surveys show Attal is now France's most popular politician, with 40 percent support, while a survey published the day of his nomination found that 37 percent thought he would "make a good prime minister".
Importantly, Attal is "very well-known among younger people", says political scientist Virginie Martin. "He's very active on social media like Instagram and has managed to reach out to youth."
More than 40 percent of the 18-24 age group abstained in the 2022 presidential election and, of those that did vote, only 10 percent backed Macron.
While Macron cannot run for a third term, his party is gearing up for European elections in June.
Jordan Bardella, the 28-year-old leader of the far-right National Rally (RN) party, is running for election. Worryingly for Macron's party, RN is 10 percent ahead in the polls.
Mini-Macron
While Attal can be seen as a weapon against Bardella, "he's also a mini-Macron", notes Martin.
The two men have much in common: they're young, hyper-active, restless for change, communications-savvy and ideologically malleable.
"Emmanuel Macron has always known what he wanted since 2017," says Martin. "He imposes his choice."
But the young Attal faces plenty of resistance, she told RFI – not least from heavyweights such as Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin, who reportedly opposed his nomination, or Economy Minister Bruno Le Maire, Attal's former boss.
Unsurprisingly, France's political opposition is unimpressed by the new PM.
"A new line? A new majority? No. Emmanuel Macron has replaced Emmanuel Macron," said Boris Vallaud, head of the Socialist group in parliament, describing Attal as a "Macronist avatar".
Far-right leader Bardella wrote on X: "Emmanuel Macron wanted to cling on to [Attal's] popularity in the polls to relieve the pain of an interminable end of reign."
Nicolas Dupont-Aignan, head of the sovereignist Debout la France party, described Attal as "a new puppet", claiming that unfortunately for France nothing would change.
Meanwhile the conservative Republicans (LR), whose support the government sorely needs, appear lukewarm.
LR leader Eric Ciotti called for the end of a form of "constant communication" to allow for "clear and firm policy".
Republican MP Pierre-Henri Dumont deplored Attal's lack of experience in the field.
"His record is virtually non-existent in the ministries he's served. No major reform bears his signature because he's never had the time to prove himself," Dumont said.
Attal is clearly looking to do just that – assuming Macron, dubbed the "hyper-president" for his tendency to control the government, will let him.
