This Prime Minister looks like him. In any case, this is what Edouard Philippe thinks when he contemplates, this May day, the features drawn from Gabriel Attal. Despite his youth, despite his still plump face, he seems tired. The head of the five months at Matignon. “I had the same one,” remembers the eldest. It must be said that Gabriel Attal is the vibrant type. When he received another of his predecessors, Jean-Pierre Raffarin, shortly after his appointment in January 2024, he flooded him with questions. Strategic: “What do you do when you miss a minister?” Organizational: “Should we see the President of the National Assembly on Sunday evening?” To last, leave nothing to chance.
“How to survive when you are fired?” This is therefore a question that the current head of government has not asked. No need to regret. Barely installed, who wants to think about the day he will be fired? Then, what would these exes have said that would be useful to him today? Edouard Philippe, Jean-Pierre Raffarin… It was the time when love lasted three years. The time when dissolution did not damage ambitions.
Special treatment, minimalist treatment
Whatever the results of the July legislative elections, Emmanuel Macron has the right to keep Gabriel Attal in his post. But, after having insisted that “nothing is more republican than giving voice to the sovereign people”, the words of an Elysian advisor, such a choice would seem at best inconsequential, at worst incoherent. Six months at Matignon… Attal more fleeting than Edith Cresson. There are records that the thirty-year-old would like not to achieve. Fortunately no one repeated the promise made by the Head of State to Catherine Vautrin almost appointed head of government in 2022: “You will stay until the Olympic Games, a five-year break.” It is likely that he, appointed in 2024, will not even last until then.
He whom some describe “only in the immediacy” did not anticipate the announcement of the dissolution on Sunday evening. He admitted it during his television appearance on TF1: “It’s a brutal decision.” The Prime Minister was certainly entitled to special treatment from the president, but it was minimalist: it was just before the start of the meeting with the leaders of the majority, Sunday evening at the Elysée, that Emmanuel Macron announced his choice to him. The next day was not a happier day: while Gabriel Attal’s participation in an 8 p.m. show had been planned from June 10, it was Gérald Darmanin who was the guest of TF1 on Monday evening.
To be and to have been. Already, the Savonnerie carpets which adorn the floors of Matignon are being pulled under their feet. So, he changes position, he has always considered flexibility as a quality. Yesterday Prime Minister confident enough to come and interrupt the majority candidate for the European elections in the middle of an interview, today a modest citizen, humble activist, who, to the deputies worried about these rushed legislative elections, assures: “I will go to the end of my duty as a citizen attached to his country who will give everything to avoid the worst. At the end of my duty as a member of our family, to defend and protect you. Then, caught up by the memory of the responsibilities he still must exercise: “At the end of my duty as Prime Minister to act in the services of the French until the last minute.”
“An earlier future Prime Minister”
Gabriel Attal is a pragmatist, leaving matters little, staying counts just as much. For a long time now, in this Olympic year, he has adopted Pierre de Coubertin’s motto, “the important thing is to participate”. Since January 9, 2024, he has been Prime Minister for life. “A previous future Prime Minister”, the clever expression is from a historical Macronist. “I would have been Prime Minister at 35, that’s already it…”, whispered the person concerned a few weeks earlier, imagining the possibility of a departure at the beginning of the summer, according to The Parisian.
But taking advantage of one’s presence at Matignon to build a political legacy, even minimalist, is not prohibited, especially when one has great ambitions. What will the head of government leave behind? A high-ranking minister struggles to conceal his optimism: “We’re throwing around a lot of things and nothing is readable anymore, it’s sauerkraut on barbecue on Savoyard fondue on tartiflette.” The example of the school – “public service which is particularly close to my heart”, insisted the Prime Minister on the television news – seems, in this sense, significant. “Attal had made a thing of it and then nothing, no more impetus, continues this minister. This greatly disturbs the voters.” Since the time for compliments has come, someone close to the president reports the remark of a young member of his family: “Attal is making fun of us, he wants to please parents by taking care of children’s access on the screens and at the same time he goes on BeReal [NDLR : un réseau social] to please us.” Attal does everything, Attal wants everything. What does consistency matter in this fragmented society where we no longer meet, how many voters over 40 know that this Prime Minister is also on TikTok?
Mirage in sight
Communication is one of his talents, why deprive yourself? “The next Apple Keynote is Gabriel who is doing it, he knows all the Samsung and Apple models for taking upside-down selfies,” complains a strategist of the president. Some may grumble that when the Prime Minister traveled before the election, he was constantly harassed and solicited, and the words towards him from these French people he met at random were often warm, even when there were reproaches. Be careful, mirage ahead! “He is doing well, the structure of his popularity shows that he is here for a long time,” even a minister said. You can be political and be fooled, the proof. Like her, Attal undoubtedly believed that his notoriety and his good polls rhymed with life insurance. This is not knowing Emmanuel Macron very well, and it is also not knowing the voters very well.
To be, to have been, and to be. Gabriel Attal outlined his trajectory during his television interview Tuesday evening. “I will lead this campaign as majority leader, as Prime Minister. I have been working with the President of the Republic for several months. My identity: always listen to the French.” The week before the European election, one of his predecessors observed: “What he wants is to create a character for himself, if not a candidate in 2027, he knows that he has little chance of being in office. situation, but to be the organizer of Macronie for tomorrow, to organize deals with others.” In this objective, having been Prime Minister can help. No longer being one can be annoying.
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