France's new prime minister Michel Barnier promises to respond to 'anger' of the people
President Emmanuel Macron named Michel Barnier as France’s new prime minister on Thursday, hoping the Brexit negotiator and veteran conservative can work with the country's bitterly divided legislature and end the political turmoil that has roiled Macron's presidency.
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00:00Michel Barnier has promised to respond to the anger of the people in his first speech
00:06as Prime Minister of France. Speaking at the handover ceremony with his predecessor Gabriel
00:12Attal in Paris, Barnier said his new role would concentrate on fixing a raft of problems
00:17causing resentment among French voters.
00:21It will be about responding as much as we can to the challenges, to the anger, as you
00:30mentioned, to the suffering, to the feeling of abandonment, of injustice that crosses
00:40our cities, our neighbourhoods and our countrysides.
00:44President Emmanuel Macron named Barnier as France's new Prime Minister on Thursday, hoping
00:49the veteran Conservative can work with the country's bitterly divided legislature. Barnier's
00:55appointment ends more than 50 days of a caretaker government in France, and he faces the tough
01:00task of having to work with an acrimonious and deeply divided hung parliament that emerged
01:05from a snap election Macron called in June.
01:09With Michel Barnier in Matignon as Prime Minister, the President remains clearly in power. He
01:19is not challenged by his Prime Minister. The extreme moderation, conciliatory character
01:29of his Prime Minister is a plus.
01:32He's a loyal veteran of the recently renamed right-wing Republican Right Party and has
01:37had a long political career in France and the EU. He served twice as European Commissioner
01:43and between 2016 and 2021 was the chief EU negotiator for Brexit. Barnier will now have
01:50to survive a confidence vote in the National Assembly, France's lower house of parliament.