Gabriel Attal, a 34-year-old, has been appointed as France's new prime minister, a historic decision by President Emmanuel Macron as he seeks to revive his government's declining popularity.
Attal will be France's youngest prime minister and the country's first openly gay prime minister, making him one of the world's most recognized and influential LGBTQ politicians.
Since July, Attal has served as Minister of Education and National Youth in Macron's Renaissance Party.
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During his term, he enacted a contentious ban on wearing the abaya in French public schools and tried to raise school bullying awareness.
In a separate post, Attal expressed gratitude to Macron for his "trust" and vowed to "keep control of our destiny" and "unleash our French potential."
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In a speech following his nomination, Attal named education, inflation, the liberalization of the French economy, and youth development as among the country's concerns but emphasized education as "the mother of our battles, the one which must be at the heart of our priorities."
Before joining Macron's centrist political movement, Attal, like the French president, was a member of the center-left Socialist Party. His beliefs have shifted to the right in recent years, but he has maintained a morphing political identity in the mold of his boss.
Attal served as the official spokesman during the pandemic, quickly raising his profile among the general French population.
His political career has since advanced at a breakneck pace for a man his age. During Macron's second term, Attal was appointed minister of public works and public accounts before becoming minister of education.
As prime minister, he will create a new government and ensure that legislation supporting the president's agenda is passed.
He takes over for Elisabeth Borne, who resigned on Monday following a turbulent 20-month tenure marked by controversial retirement reforms and urban riots last summer in response to the police shooting of a young teenager of Algerian heritage.
During a handover ceremony with Borne on Tuesday, Attal referred to his predecessor as "a PM of action and courage."
Borne, for her part, stated that she "carried out the projects that seemed right and necessary for our country" and was "proud of the work accomplished during these almost 20 months."
Borne became the first female prime minister in three decades when Macron appointed her in May of this year.
