You have to take victories where you can. Prime Minister François Bayrou, when speaking to visitors to his office, has marked each stage of his time in office in a rather unusual way. “I’ve surpassed [Michel] Barnier!” he declared to one visitor in March, after having outlasted his predecessor, whose government was toppled after three months and eight days. “For three days now, I’ve surpassed [Bernard] Cazeneuve,” Bayrou boasted to another in May, referring to the Socialist who held the office for the last five months and nine days of François Hollande’s presidency, in 2016-17. Now, Bayrou hopes to cross, in the heart of summer, the seven-month-and-27-day mark, beating Gabriel Attal, the prime minister from January ot September 2024. And finally, on September 18, he hopes to be able to boast of equaling his illustrious model, Pierre Mendès France, who served as prime minister for eight months and five days (1954–1955) during the Fourth Republic.
Yet, with every passing day, a trap has been closing around the prime minister. “Everyone is threatening me,” he said, speaking on RTL radio on Sunday, June 29. Following the failure of a series of key negotiations on pensions, he will, on Tuesday, July 1, face a no-confidence vote initiated by the Parti Socialiste (PS, left), in a turning point for his premiership. The Socialists had previously shown some restraint toward Bayrou after they decided not to topple his government over the 2025 budget, in exchange for a few concessions. Since then, however, the dialogue between them has broken down.
You have 80.72% of this article left to read. The rest is for subscribers only.
