AAfter 52 days at the head of a resigning government, Gabriel Attal, 34, the youngest Prime Minister of the Fifth Republic, leaves his place to Michel Barnier, 73, who becomes the oldest tenant of Matignon of the current political regime. His name was given after several weeks of negotiations, trial balloons and refusals of various personalities from political parties on the left and the right in the face of an Emmanuel Macron who took his time.
Michel Barnier, who celebrated his birthday on the 1stis September, was born in 1951. He was elected at the age of 22 in the cantonal elections (since replaced by the departmental elections) as general councilor of the canton of Bourg-Saint-Maurice, in Savoie. He became a deputy of the same department in 1978 and then became at 27 the youngest elected official to sit in the hemicycle of the National Assembly.
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He was first Minister for the Environment in 1993, then Minister Delegate for European Affairs. He then returned to Raffarin’s government in 2004 as Minister of Foreign Affairs, and to Fillon’s government as Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries in 2007. More recently, he has made a name for himself by leading the Brexit negotiations on behalf of the European Union.
By becoming Prime Minister on September 5, Michel Barnier beats Pierre Bérégovoy in terms of age, aged 66 in 1992. Next comes Édouard Balladur, t […] Read more
