The pioneer, the longevity record holder, the first woman, the youngest, the future presidents… A panorama of ten records of the 26 Prime Ministers of the Fifth Republic, Michel Barnier, appointed on Thursday, becoming the oldest tenant of Matignon.
– Debré, the first of the Firsts –
On January 8, 1959, Michel Debré became the first Prime Minister of the Fifth Republic. A nascent republic whose mysteries no one knew better, since he had just drafted its Constitution.
Mr. Debré inaugurates the office of Prime Minister, a title which did not officially exist under previous regimes.
– Pompidou, the longevity record –
Georges Pompidou, who succeeded Michel Debré in 1962, holds the record for longevity at Matignon. He stayed there for six years, two months and 26 days.
– Cazeneuve, the briefest –
Bernard Cazeneuve, François Hollande’s last Prime Minister (2016-2017), only stayed five months and four days, the shortest stay at Matignon.
Gabriel Attal, who remained for six months and seven days until the resignation of his government on July 16, came close to snatching this title. On the other hand, he was the resigning Prime Minister to ensure the longest period of current affairs, 51 days in total.
– Cresson, the first woman –
Edith Cresson, the first woman to hold the post (1991-1992), led the government for only 10 months and 18 days, during François Mitterrand’s second seven-year term.
It would be 30 years before a second woman, Elisabeth Borne, would reach Matignon in May 2022.
– Chirac, the first ENA graduate –
Appointed in 1974 by Valéry Giscard-d’Estaing, himself the first graduate of the ENA at the Elysée, Jacques Chirac is the first resident of Matignon to have studied at the École nationale d’administration. The previous Prime Ministers were born too young to have been able to attend the ENA, created in 1945.
After Mr. Chirac, Matignon welcomed eight ENA graduates: Laurent Fabius, Michel Rocard, Edouard Balladur, Alain Juppé, Lionel Jospin, Dominique de Villepin, Edouard Philippe and Jean Castex.
– Chirac, the first in a period of cohabitation –
Jacques Chirac, who resigned with a bang in the summer of 1976, became Prime Minister again ten years later, in 1986, appointed by the socialist François Mitterrand after a victory of the right in the legislative elections. He was thus the first Prime Minister of cohabitation. Edouard Balladur followed in 1993, still under François Mitterrand, Lionel Jospin in 1997, under the presidency of Jacques Chirac.
– Chirac, the only one to have been twice –
Jacques Chirac’s two stints at Matignon are a unique case under the Fifth Republic.
– A springboard for Pompidou and Chirac –
Among the Prime Ministers of the Fifth Republic, only Georges Pompidou and Jacques Chirac subsequently reached the Elysée.
Mr Pompidou was elected president in 1969, less than a year after leaving Matignon. Mr Chirac, meanwhile, waited seven years between his second departure from Matignon in 1988 and his election in 1995.
Yet many have tried their luck: François Fillon, Lionel Jospin, Edouard Balladur, Raymond Barre, Michel Debré and Jacques Chaban-Delmas were all unsuccessful candidates in the presidential election.
Others, such as Alain Juppé, Laurent Fabius and Manuel Valls, were eliminated at the stage of their party’s primaries.
– Attal, the youngest –
Gabriel Attal was 34 years old when Emmanuel Macron appointed him on January 9, 2024, ahead of Laurent Fabius (37 years old when he was appointed by François Mitterrand in 1984), the only other Matignon tenant under 40.
– Barnier, the oldest –
The youngest has been succeeded by the oldest Prime Minister of the Fifth Republic. Michel Barnier, appointed this Thursday by Emmanuel Macron, is 73 years old. He wipes from the records Pierre Bérégovoy, who was 67 years old when he left Matignon in 1993.
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