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President Emmanuel Macron has selected one of his earliest allies, the centrist politician François Bayrou, as his fourth prime minister this year as he seeks to stabilise political turmoil in France.
The 73-year-old veteran combines a market-oriented view of the economy with support for social justice measures such as taxing the wealthy.
Bayrou has also called for more power to be devolved from Paris to the rest of the country.
His nomination came after a nearly two -hour long meeting at the Elysée Palace, which was said to be tense and led Macron to reconsider other names at the last minute.
Bayrou’s long time alliance with Macron could prove an irritant to the opposition in France’s raucous hung parliament.
His predecessor, Michel Barnier, a former Brexit negotiator, was toppled last week by the National Assembly after just under three months in office. Barnier fell in a no-confidence vote over his proposed deficit-cutting budget.
Bayrou will face the same difficulties in navigating a parliament divided into three irreconcilable blocs, and passing a budget for next year.
France is under pressure to narrow its deficit, which will stand at 6 per cent of national output by the end of the year — far above the EU limit of 3 per cent of GDP.
This is a developing story