Macron sacks Elisabeth Borne as French prime minister and eyes reshuffle
Centrist president’s coalition is in danger of splitting apart amid second-term malaise
Macron with Borne in June. He appointed her, a left-winger, when his right-wing first choice faced party opposition
YVES HERMAN/REUTERS
President Macron has sacked his prime minister as he seeks to breathe new life into his flagging second and final term of office.
Elisabeth Borne, only the second woman to hold the prime ministerial office in France, stepped down after being told by Macron that he needed a new figure at the head of his government.
In a message on X, Macron paid tribute to her “exemplary” work during her 20 months in the role, saying: “You implemented our project with courage, commitment and determination.”
Borne was appointed in the summer of 2022
JOEL SAGET/AFP/GETTY IMAGES
Few commentators were as enthusiastic about Borne, 62, although most agreed that she had done better than France’s first female prime minister, the Socialist Edith Cresson, who lasted less than a year before being forced out in the early 1990s.
