Can Gabriel Attal Win Over France?

THE NEW YORK TIMES: The new prime minister wants to succeed President Macron. But first he must see off the far right and define himself before a restive public.

Prime Minister Gabriel Attal arriving at Hotel Matignon, the prime minister’s residence, in Paris this month. | Benoit Tessier/Reuters
Gabriel Attal, 34, is a new kind of French prime minister, more inclined to Diet Coke than a good Burgundy, at home with social media and revelations about his personal life, a natural communicator who reels off one liners like “France rhymes with power” to assert his “authority,” a favorite word.

Since taking office in early January, the boyish-looking Mr. Attal has waded into the countryside, far from his familiar haunts in the chic quarters of Paris, muddied his dress shoes, propped his notes on a choreographed bale of hay, and calmed protesting farmers through adroit negotiation leavened by multiple concessions.

He has told rail workers threatening a strike that “working is a duty,” not an everyday French admonition. He has shown off his new dog on Instagram and explained that he called the high-energy Chow Chow “Volta” after the inventor of the electric battery. He has told the National Assembly that he is the living proof of a changing France as “a prime minister who assumes his homosexuality.” » | Roger Cohen | Friday, February 23, 2024

Brexit Killing Off British Industry, Claims French Prime Minister

THE TELEGRAPH: Tata Steel will close its remaining two blast furnaces at UK’s largest steelworks by the end of the year

Gabriel Attal says Britain leaving the EU is behind the forthcoming closure of the last blast furnaces in the country | CREDIT: Michel Euler/AP
Brexit is killing off British industry, France’s prime minister claimed in parliament on Tuesday.

Gabriel Attal said Britain leaving the EU was behind the closure of the “last blast furnaces” in Britain.

Earlier this month, Tata Steel confirmed that it would close the remaining two blast furnaces at the UK’s largest steelworks by the end of the year.

The plan will trigger the loss of up to 2,800 jobs at the Port Talbot site in South Wales.

France will go the same way and see its industry decline if it gives into the “sirens” of Marine Le Pen’s hard-Right National Rally (RN), Mr Attal added in comments he said would “pain” those who voted Leave in the 2016 referendum. » | Henry Samuel in Paris | Tuesday, January 30, 2024 [£]

Jewish Students Condemn Antisemitic Tweets about French PM Gabriel Attal

THE GUARDIAN: Students’ union calls for sanctions over posts on social network that have also contained homophobic abuse

Attal (centre) is France’s youngest prime minister and the first out gay politician in the role.Photograph: Eric Tschaen/Sipa/Rex/Shutterstock
The French Union of Jewish Students has called for sanctions against people who have written antisemitic and homophobic comments about France’s new prime minister, Gabriel Attal, on the social network X.

Attal, 34, who was appointed by the president, Emmanuel Macron, this week, is France’s youngest prime minister and also the first out gay politician in the job.

His father, a lawyer and film producer who died in 2015, was Jewish and his mother is Orthodox Christian. He was baptised as Christian but Attal has said his father told him he would feel Jewish all his life and would always face antisemitism because he had a Jewish name. » | Angelique Chrisafis in Paris | Friday, January 12, 2024

Who is Gabriel Attal, the French PM who climbed the ranks in record time?: France’s youngest prime minister, son of privilege, is known for his ability to think on his feet »

Avec Gabriel Attal, le gouvernement est dirigé pour la première fois par un Premier ministre ouvertement gay

KOMITID : Gabriel Attal a été nommé Premier ministre par le Président le 9 janvier et l'annonce en a été faite peu après midi.

Gabriel Attal en 2022 à Paris - Pierre Galan / Shutterstock
Le suspense aura duré quelques heures. Gabriel Attal a été nommé Premier ministre par le Président le 9 janvier.

Il devient le plus jeune Premier ministre de la 5e République mais aussi le premier chef du gouvernement français ouvertement gay.

Il remplace à ce poste Elisabeth Borne, qui avait été la deuxième femme à occuper cette fonction et qui est restée un an et près de huit mois à Matignon. Une séquence marquée par l’adoption de deux lois très critiquées : la réforme des retraites et une nouvelle loi sur l’immigration très dure, marquée par des mesures inspirées par la « préférence nationale » chère à l’extrême droite.

Gabriel Attal, 34 ans, était depuis moins de six mois au ministère de l’Education nationale.

Selon un cadre de la majorité cité par l’AFP, il « incarne un élan, une dynamique, une audace dont on a sûrement besoin ». » | Christophe Martet avec l’AFP | mardi 9 janvier 2024

Gabriel Attal Becomes France’s Youngest Prime Minister | BBC News

Jan 9, 2024 | Gabriel Attal has been named France's next prime minister, as Emmanuel Macron aims to revive his presidency with a new government. At 34, he is the youngest PM in modern French history, outranking even Socialist Laurent Fabius who was 37 when he was appointed by François Mitterrand in 1984. Mr Attal replaces Élisabeth Borne, who resigned after 20 months in office. Throughout that time she struggled with a lack of a majority in parliament.

France Gets Its Youngest and First Openly Gay Prime Minister: Gabriel Attal, 34, replaces Élisabeth Borne in a cabinet shuffle that President Emmanuel Macron hopes can reinvigorate a term marked by drift and division. »

Macron ernennt Gabriel Attal zum Premierminister Frankreichs

Jan 9, 2024 | Nach dem Rücktritt von Elisabeth Borne hat der französische Präsident Emmanuel Macron das Amt neu besetzt. Attal wird mit seinen 34 Jahren der jüngste Premierminister der Geschichte. Zudem ist er der erste Regierungschef des Landes, der offen homosexuell lebt. © AFP, EPA

WIKIPEDIA: Gabriel Attal E, D, F.

Emmanuel Macron Appoints France’s Youngest Prime Minister

THE TELEGRAPH: Gabriel Attal, the 34-year-old education minister known as ‘Macron Boy’, succeeds the sacked Elisabeth Borne

Newly appointed Prime minister Gabriel Attal is welcomed by outgoing Prime minister Elisabeth Borne as he arrives for the handover ceremony in ParisCREDIT: EMMANUEL DUNAND/POOL/AFP via Getty Images
Emmanuel Macron has appointed a 34-year-old who made his name by banning Muslim abaya robes in schools as France’s youngest prime minister.

Gabriel Attal, the education minister, was chosen to breathe new life into the president’s flagging second term in office.

The move will not necessarily lead to any major political shift but signals Macron’s desire to try to move beyond last year’s unpopular pension and immigration reforms and improve his centrist party’s chances in June’s EU ballot.

Mr Attal, who has been called “Macron Boy”, is seen by some as a potential presidential candidate in 2027. He is the first openly gay prime minister. » | Telegraph’s Foreign Staff | Tuesday, January 9, 2024

LE MONDE : Gabriel Attal à Matignon, la promotion spectaculaire d’un fidèle du chef de l’Etat : Le ministre de l’éducation nationale, l’un des plus populaires du gouvernement, a été propulsé, mardi, à Matignon. Ancien socialiste, il avait rejoint Emmanuel Macron dès 2016. A 34 ans, il devient le plus jeune premier ministre de la Vᵉ République » [€]

FRANKFURTER ALLGEMEINE ZEITUNG : Gabriel Attal, ein Klon Macrons: Gabriel Attal tritt als jüngster Regierungschef an. Weitere Ähnlichkeiten mit dem Präsidenten sind gewollt. In Gestalt des 34 Jahre alten Gabriel Attal setzt der französische Präsident auf ein frisches, unverbrauchtes Gesicht an der Regierungsspitze. In den französischen Medien wird der neue Premierminister als politisches Wunderkind gefeiert. Attal hat bislang schlicht die Zeit gefehlt, sich in seinen Ämtern zu bewähren. Das Bildungsministerium hatte er erst im vergangenen Sommer übernommen. Er stellte sich mit dem Verbot der Abaja genannten islamischen Überkleider in den Klassenräumen vor. » [€]

THE GUARDIAN: Gabriel Attal appointed youngest French PM as Macron tries to revive popularity: Attal, 34, rose in opinion polls during his time as education minister and may improve ruling party’s chances in EU elections »

Who Is Gabriel Attal de Couriss? The French PM who climbed the ranks in record time?