Since June 9, the date of the dissolution of the National Assembly, France has never been so close to having a new government. According to Matignon, Prime Minister Michel Barnier is currently making “final adjustments” to the composition of his team, which should be presented “before Sunday.” According to initial information, it should have 38 members, including 16 full ministers: seven Macronists, three LR, two MoDem, one Horizons, one UDI, one miscellaneous right and one miscellaneous left.
Well-known figures but no presidential candidates
Several faces in the next government will not be unknown since a handful of members of the outgoing team should leave with Michel Barnier. The Ministry of the Armed Forces seems certain to keep its incumbent, the discreet Sébastien Lecornu. In this “reserved domain” of the President of the Republic, the MoDem Jean-Noël Barrot would be promoted from European Affairs to Foreign Affairs. Rachida Dati, who came from LR, would remain in Culture. Catherine Vautrin, Minister of Labor and ex-LR, would move to a large portfolio dedicated to the Territories. The Minister Delegate for Agriculture Agnès Pannier-Runacher, from the left wing of Macronie would go to Ecology. A former MoDem minister, Geneviève Darrieussecq, would return to the government but this time, to Health.
Among the names mentioned: no presidential candidates in sight. Edouard Philippe, Gabriel Attal, Laurent Wauquiez (who says he refused Bercy), Gérald Darmanin (who would have liked to obtain Foreign Affairs), François Bayrou… the candidates declared or supposed as such today for the 2027 presidential election are not part of the new team.
Ministers marked on the right
Even if Laurent Wauquiez is not part of it, the LR members joining the government are very right-wing, to the great displeasure of the left and part of the central bloc. A figure of the conservative camp and a supporter of a firm line on immigration, the leader of the senators Bruno Retailleau would become Minister of the Interior. Senator Laurence Garnier, tipped for the Family, is already controversial for her positions against same-sex marriage, the constitutionalization of abortion and the decriminalization of conversion therapies. The party’s number 2, Annie Genevard, would go to Agriculture, while she had hoped for National Education. Alsatian Patrick Hetzel would get Higher Education.
Among the delegate ministers or secretaries of state, LR would also obtain Foreign Trade for Senator Sophie Primas, Overseas Territories for the president of the Senate Law Commission François-Noël Buffet, Veterans for MP Jean-Louis Thiériot and Secularism for Othman Nasrou, LR vice-president of the Île-de-France region.
The left is notably absent from this list. According to the names mentioned, only one personality would join the government, in Justice. This would be the president of the High Authority for Transparency in Public Life (HATVP), Didier Migaud, former first president of the Court of Auditors and former socialist deputy. Several socialists, such as Philippe Brun or Nicolas Mayer-Rossignol, have indicated that they have refused to enter the government.
The rise of Macronist deputies
Paris MP Astrid Panosyan-Bouvet would go to Labour. Bercy would be shared between a duo of Macronist MPs: Antoine Armand (for Economy and Industry) and Mathieu Lefèvre (for Public Accounts), the latter being attached however to Matignon. It remains to be seen whether they would be overseen by a Minister of Finance like the Governor of the Bank of France François Villeroy de Galhau. Northern MP Violette Spillebout, close to Gérald Darmanin, would go to National Education and Paris MP Benjamin Haddad to European Affairs. Two members of Edouard Philippe’s Horizons party would join the government: Northern MP Paul Christophe for Social Affairs and his colleague from Val-d’Oise Naïma Moutchou who could obtain a position as Minister Delegate for Justice.
While the composition of the government is taking shape, its program remains unclear. Michel Barnier’s general policy statement on October 1 should clarify this. Following the meeting with party leaders on Thursday, the Prime Minister contented himself with a very general statement announcing his intention to “improve the standard of living of the French and the functioning of public services, particularly schools and health, to guarantee security, control immigration and advance integration”. He would also like to “encourage businesses and farmers and strengthen France’s economic attractiveness, control public finances and reduce the ecological debt”. Contrary to previous reports, the Prime Minister also reportedly told Gabriel Attal that he was not considering “increasing taxes on the middle classes and working French people”.