French President Emmanuel Macron appointed 34-year-old Gabriel Attal as his new prime minister Tuesday, making Attal both the youngest and first openly gay person to hold the high office.
Attal’s promotion from education minister was confirmed in a statement from the Élysée Palace which added that Attal would now assemble his cabinet. Together, he and 46-year-old Macron have a lower combined age (80) than President Joe Biden (81).
Attal will replace Élisabeth Borne, who resigned Monday. Borne, who was France’s second female prime minister, stepped down ahead of a widely-expected Cabinet reshuffle and the European elections in June.
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Macron is turning to Attal during a tricky time in his second term, with polls showing his camp trailing the far-right Marine Le Pen’s National Rally party by as much as 10 percentage points. The president’s popularity was damaged last year by widespread demonstrations against pension reforms raising the retirement age from 62 to 64, while his governing coalition has also been roiled by infighting over a contentious immigration bill.
Attal, meanwhile, has risen to become one of France’s most popular politicians, according to recent polls. Macron—who was himself the youngest president in French history when he was first came to power in 2017 at the age of 39—now appears to be attempting to rejuvenate his administration by choosing Attal ahead of other more experienced candidates for the job.
“I know I can count on your energy and your commitment to implement the rearmament and regeneration project that I announced,” Macron wrote in an X post addressed to Attal Tuesday. “In fidelity to the spirit of 2017: surpassing and audacity. In the service of the Nation and the French.”
