Macron to name new French PM within days

French President Emmanuel Macron has said he will name a new prime minister “in the coming days”, after Michel Barnier resigned following a no-confidence vote in parliament.

A report by  BBC stated that Macron in a 10-minute address to the nation on Thursday, rejected opposition pressure to stand down, vowing to stay in his post “fully, until the end of the mandate” in 2027.

Macron was holding talks on Friday with leaders of the Socialists, who said they were ready for a compromise in forming a “fixed-term” government, but not under a prime minister from a right-wing party.

The Socialists joined colleagues on the left and far right in voting to remove Michel Barnier on Wednesday, only three months after he was appointed by Macron.

The president thanked Barnier for his dedication during his brief term as prime minister, and accused MPs of collaborating in an “anti-republican front” to bring down the government.

The vote was the first time a French government had been voted down by parliament in more than 60 years, a move Macron labelled “unprecedented”.

In France, it is the president who chooses the prime minister who then runs the government. But the prime minister must answer to parliament and Barnier lasted only three months before he was ousted in a no-confidence vote.

Finding someone who will not be immediately rejected by parliament could be difficult for Macron, whose decision in June to call snap elections led to a deadlocked parliament.

The National Assembly is now split into three big voting blocs – the left, centre and far right. If Macron’s next choice of prime minister is to last, it is thought at least part of the left bloc will need to be persuaded to join the next government.

The president held talks with several political leaders on Friday, having told the French people he would “appoint in the coming days a prime minister who will form a government of general interest”.

He first spoke to centrists in the “Macron camp”, before meeting Socialist leaders, who are part of a broader left-wing bloc, the New Popular Front. He will also talk to the right-wing Republicans.

Socialist leader Olivier Faure said ahead of the talks that he was open to discussion and “compromises on every issue” towards forming a government based on a “fixed term contract”. But he made clear he had little desire to “ensure the continuity of Macronism”.

No new parliamentary elections can be held until July 2025, which might explain Faure’s remarks on being open to a limited term for the next government.

Faure said after the talks Macron had “absolutely not” asked the Socialists to split from the wider New Popular Front (NFP). However, the biggest member of the NFP, the far-left France Unbowed, said Faure had been given no mandate to speak on the Popular Front’s behalf.