Macron names centrist Bayrou as French PM in bid to end political instability

Three centre-left parties – the Socialists, Greens and Communists – have broken ranks with the more radical left LFI and have taken part in talks on forming a new government.

However, they have made clear they want to see a leftist prime minister of their choice if they are going to join a broad-based government.

“I told you I wanted someone from the left and the Greens and I think Mr Bayrou isn’t one or the other,” Greens leader Marine Tondelier told French TV on Thursday, adding that she did not see how the centrist camp that lost parliamentary elections could hold the post of prime minister and maintain the same policies.

Carole Delga, a Socialist leader from southern France, said the French people had become exasperated by the situation, which she likened to a bad movie.

Sébastien Chenu, a National Rally MP, said for his party it was less about who Macron picked than the “political line” he chose. If Bayrou wanted to tackle immigration and the cost of living crisis then he would “find an ally in us”.

Relations between the centre left and the radical LFI of Jean-Luc Mélenchon appear to have broken down over the three parties’ decision to pursue talks with President Macron.

After the LFI leader called on his former allies to steer clear of a coalition deal, Olivier Faure of the Socialists told French TV that “the more Mélenchon shouts the less he’s heard”.

Meanwhile, Marine Le Pen has called for her party’s policies on the cost of living to be taken into account by the incoming government, by building a budget that “doesn’t cross each party’s red lines”.

Michel Barnier’s caretaker government has put forward a bill to enable the provisions of the 2024 budget to continue into next year. But a replacement budget for 2025 will have to be approved once the next government takes office.