After days of intense background, The Elysée announced that current education minister Gabriel Atal is the new prime minister of France to replace the resigned Elisabeth Bourne. He is 34 years old and the youngest prime minister the country had.

He was government spokesman, budget minister and education minister in the governments of Emmanuel Macron and is the youngest prime minister. The previous one was Laurent Fabius, who became prime minister under Mitterrand at the age of 37 in 1984.

Who is Gabriel Attal

Gabriel Atal (born March 16, 1989 in Clamart) is French politician of Macron’s Renaissance party.

He grew up in the 13th and 14th arrondissements (arrondissements) of Paris with three sisters. His father, Yves Attal, was a lawyer and film producer.

Atal is openly gay and has signed a cohabitation agreement with Renaissance MEP Stéphane Cezournet.

The first reactions

The first reactions were positive from the ruling faction, and negative from the opposition. The left-wing politician Jean-Luc Mélenchon he sarcastically declared that Atal had regained the position of government representative and that the post of prime minister had been abolished, while far-right politician Eric Zemur declared that a macronist was replacing a macronist.