Gabriel Attal named France's youngest-ever prime minister

Jan. 9 (UPI) -- French President Emmanuel Macron appointed Education Minister Gabriel Attal as the country's new prime minister on Tuesday.

Attal takes the helm at age 34, becoming France's youngest prime minister since Laurent Fabius assumed the office four decades earlier at age 37.

"The youngest president in history has appointed the youngest prime minister in history. A symbol of audacity, the trust he puts in the youth," Attal said during a speech in front of the prime minister's residency in Paris.

Macron, who was 39 years old when he took office in 2017, expressed his faith in Attal in a post on social media.

"I know I can count on your energy and your commitment to implement the rearmament and regeneration project that I announced," Macron wrote. "In fidelity to the spirit of 2017: surpassing and audacity. In the service of the nation and the French."

Attal, who is also France's first openly gay prime minister, replaces 62-year-old Elisabeth Borne, who resigned Monday as Macron was preparing to reshuffle his Cabinet later this summer amid June's European Union parliamentary elections.

Ahead of the shakeup, Macron's party lost its majority in the lower House of the French parliament in the 2022 election, which forced Borne to work with opposition forces, leaving her ineffective and struggling to achieve many legislative goals.

Her 20-month tenure as France's prime minister was marked by several contentious issues, including pension reform, hardline immigration policies, and growing public discord over high inflation, all which served to weaken Macron's presidency.

Attal swiftly climbed the ranks of the French government, winning a seat in the National Assembly in 2017, before becoming the youngest minister in France's government two years later at 29, beginning in a junior position in education.

Starting in 2020, Attal assumed the role of government spokesman, gaining recognition among voters. Following Macron's re-election in 2022, Attal briefly served as budget minister before taking over the education portfolio last July where he handled controversy surrounding Muslim abaya robes by straightforwardly banning traditional garbs in schools and led a campaign against bullying, drawing from his personal experiences.

Attal was picked ahead of Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin, Economy Minister Bruno Le Maire and Armed Forces Minister Sebastien Lecornu, all longtime stalwarts of the government.

As Macron's hand-picked protege, Attal's first duty involves guiding the French government through crucial European Parliament elections scheduled for June.

Far-right leader Marine Le Pen called on voters to open a "path toward change" during the vote, warning French voters they should expect "nothing" from Macron's latest prime minister pick.

Leftist Jean-Luc Melenchon said Attal would merely serve as a "spokesperson" for Macorn.

"Cursed are the peoples whose princes are children," he said.