The ministers of the Barnier government must be appointed “before Sunday”. The Prime Minister proposed a list to Emmanuel Macron last night, all that remains is the approval of the head of state and the traditional checks. But some very right-wing names are provoking strong reactions…
09:31 – The right more represented than it seems in the Barnier government
The list of ministers that has been leaked since yesterday evening includes between 8 and 9 ministers who are members of LR, but there are more people who are close to or formerly attached to the right. While the resigning ministers expected to be reappointed are counted in the quota of EPR ministers, most of them have a common past with LR, which had not failed to be recalled during their first appointment: Rachida Dati still places herself on the right of the political spectrum despite her arrival in government, Catherine Vautrin is a former LR and Sébastien Lecornu frequented the benches of the UMP and LR before joining the presidential camp.
09:19 – LR well off in government according to its secretary Geoffrey Didier
Unlike Laurent Wauquiez, the secretary of the LR party seems satisfied with the place given to elected representatives of the right in the Barnier government with up to 9 ministers from the right expected. “We got 8% in the legislative elections, and we already have a Prime Minister from our political family” recalls the LR secretary Goeffrey Didier of Franceinfo this Friday. A nomination to Matignon “won because we are at the origin of the veto put to Emmanuel Macron on the idea of having a Prime Minister from the extreme left” he adds. The Republican assures that his party will work “together” with the Macronist camp, even if “it will not be easy”.
08:51 – A government designed to “have the manna” of the RN according to Eric Coquerel
The rebellious deputy and president of the Finance Committee in the National Assembly, Eric Coquerel, believes that Franceinfo that the future government of Michel Barnier is “reactionary, neoliberal” and “composed of losers” in reference to the results of the legislative elections. “I am afraid that they will accentuate the reactionary side of their policy to try to have the manna of the National Rally”, added the elected representative of the New Popular Front.
08:42 – Laurent Wauquiez disappointed by the number of LR ministers
Laurent Wauquiez refused to join the government. He who had made his participation in the executive conditional on an appointment to the Ministry of the Interior and only to the Ministry of the Interior, declined the Ministry of the Economy as he indicated to his political family yesterday evening. The one who therefore remains president of the right-wing group in the National Assembly also said he was disappointed by the number of ministries attributed to the LR: “It is well below our weight in Parliament”, he estimated based on the weight of the right in both chambers and particularly in the Senate dominated by the right. But in the National Assembly, the LR elected representatives only have 47 deputies and appear as the fifth group in order of size. The political party could however have 9 ministers, including 3 full-time ministers.
08:31 – Emmanuel Macron wants the name of Laurence Granier to be withdrawn
Expected to be appointed to the Family, Laurence Granier could ultimately not be part of the future government. The proposal for her appointment was rejected by Emmanuel Macron who requested her withdrawal according to information from Franceinfo. A reaction to the very bad reception of his name by the left, some in his camp or associations like the Association of Homosexual Parental Families which denounced the proposals made to “several personalities opposed to equal rights.”
08:24 – A government of “losers” and an “extreme right-wing shift of Macronism” for Panot
Mathilde Panot, president of the group of rebellious deputies in the National Assembly, expressed her “anger” at TF1 after the leaks concerning the appointments of future ministers. “We have a government that promises to recycle all the losers of the elections” believes the elected representative of Val-de-Marne who also denounces “an extreme right-wing shift of Macronie”. In her sights: the expected appointment of Bruno Retailleau to the Interior who “showed racism” by making the link between immigration and violence during the riots caused by the death of Nahel, but also that of Laurence Garnier cited for the Family.
08:13 – Laurence Garnier’s name at the Family office causes an uproar on the left and in Macron’s party
It is a name that has provoked strong reactions, most often negative. The LR senator from Loire-Atlantique, Laurence Garnier, is expected to be appointed as Minister Delegate for the Family. However, the senator’s old positions have been exhumed and put forward by the left or certain Macronists to denounce this still unofficial appointment. Recently, in 2024, the senator opposed the constitutionalization of abortion. In 2016, when she was a regional elected representative for the Pays de la Loire, she opposed the funding of an LGBT festival that she accused of “promoting GPA”. In 2014, she took part in the Manif pour tous movement, against same-sex marriage.
Laurence Garnier’s hypothesis, which is nevertheless solid, therefore creates astonishment on the left. “The French did not vote against the constitutionalization of abortion, against marriage for all, against the ban on conversion therapies. Laurence Garnier as Minister of the Family would be one more betrayal of the vote of French women and men” wrote the socialist MP for Nantes Karim Benbrahim. As for the Macronists, some are also indignant like a parliamentarian who reacted according to BFMTV : “I feel pain for my France. I didn’t sign up for this. I’ve been vomiting for three hours.”
08:00 – A name for the Ministry of Education
It is a name that was missing yesterday evening among the rumors about the composition of the government, that of the future Minister of National Education. The deputy Ensemble pour la République du Nord, Violette Spillebout, who could be appointed to replace Nicole Belloubet according to information from the Parisian.
07:57 – Barnier government to be made official by Sunday
A start of white smoke at Matignon. Michel Barnier presented a list of ministers to Emmanuel Macron on the evening of Thursday, September 19. And the appointment of the government is planned “before Sunday” by Matignon. Before the officialization of the ministers, traditional verifications carried out by the High Authority for the Transparency of Public Life must be carried out and the President of the Republic must approve the list since it is up to him to appoint the government, on the proposal of the Prime Minister.
09/19/24 – 11:49 p.m. – Garnier and Retailleau, two figures of the conservative line at LR, soon in government?
END OF LIVE – He is expected to go to the Interior, she to the Family. Laurence Garnier and Bruno Retailleau are two personalities of the Republicans considered conservative. They both voted against marriage for all in 2013, but also against the ban on conversion therapies in 2021. Speaking to franceinfo, a resigning minister deplored Thursday evening “the ideological victory of the Fillon right”.
09/19/24 – 11:18 p.m. – The presidential camp more represented than LR in government?
Michel Barnier is said to have proposed a list of 38 ministers, 16 of whom would be full-time ministers, according to information from BFMTV. Of these 16 top portfolios, seven would go to ministers from Ensemble pour la République (the presidential party), three to LR and two to MoDem. The last four would be divided between a minister from Horizons, another from the UDI, a minister from various left and finally a last one from various right.
09/19/24 – 10:48 p.m. – Who for National Education?
It’s very unclear this Thursday evening. While almost all the ministries have a name mentioned, although not yet validated or officially confirmed, no personality has been mentioned to take over the Ministry of National Education. Could Nicole Belloubet stay in place? Unless the latest rumors announcing Rachida Dati are about to be confirmed? But the current Minister of Culture is nevertheless announced by many media outlets as being reappointed to her ministry…
09/19/24 – 10:23 p.m. – The complete list of ministers’ names that Michel Barnier is said to have proposed to Emmanuel Macron this evening
None of these names have yet been officially confirmed by Matignon or the Élysée. But here is the list that Michel Barnier reportedly proposed to Emmanuel Macron this Thursday evening during his visit to the presidential palace:
- Full ministers: Bruno Retailleau (Interior), Antoine Armand (Economy), Didier Migaud (Justice), Sébastien Lecornu (Armed Forces), Astrid Panosyan-Bouvet (Labor), Geneviève Darrieussecq (Health), Jean-Noël Barrot (Foreign Affairs), Annie Genevard (Agriculture), Rachida Dati (Culture) and François-Noël Buffet (Overseas).
- Ministers Delegate: Jean-Louis Thieriot (Defense), Mathieu Lefèvre (Public Accounts), Benjamin Haddad (Europe), Laurence Garnier (Children, Youth and Families), Patrick Hetzel (Higher Education), Othman Nasrou (Secularism/Discrimination), Catherine Vautrin (Territories), Agnès Pannier-Runacher (Ecology), Sophie Primas (Foreign Trade and Tourism) and Maud Bregeon (spokesperson).
Here is the list of names relayed in the media on Thursday evening. These are the ones that Michel Barnier is said to have proposed to Emmanuel Macron during their meeting at the Élysée, not necessarily those validated subsequently. As a reminder, economic and social checks must be carried out by the High Authority for Transparency in Public Life (HATPV). Above all, it is Emmanuel Macron who appoints the ministers on the proposals of the Prime Minister, some adjustments or changes are possible until the appointment of the government.