San Francisco Frontiers - France's new PM tackles first challenge of forming cabinet

The 73-year-old, a former foreign minister who recently acted as the European Union's Brexit negotiator, is the oldest premier in the history of modern France.

Taking over from 35-year-old Gabriel Attal, a centrist half his age who was the country's first openly gay premier, Barnier pledged to take on his new task with "humility".

He said education, security and "immigration control" were his priorities and said he would be unafraid to speak the truth on the country's "financial debt", but also promised "change".

President Emmanuel Macron named Barnier after weeks of impasse as France hosted the Olympics and part of the Paralympics after his centrist alliance lost its relative majority in parliament in a snap election.

Macron took the risk of dissolving parliament in June and calling for the vote after the far right trounced his alliance in European elections.

The election saw a left-wing alliance emerge as France's biggest political force, but without enough seats for an overall majority.

Instead the anti-immigration far-right National Rally (RN) of Marine Le Pen became the single largest party in the lower chamber of the European Union's second largest economy, with the most votes in any confidence motion, followed by Macron's centrist group.

Le Pen, who leads RN lawmakers in parliament, has said her party would not be part of the new cabinet, but would wait for Barnier's first policy speech in front of parliament to decide whether or not to back him.

Critics say Macron has made Le Pen the de-facto kingmaker, despite long presenting himself as a bulwark against the far right.

- 'Betrayed' -

The left in particular has reeled at Barnier's nomination and will likely seek to topple him in the lower house.

"I am very angry, like millions of French voters who I think feel betrayed," Lucie Castets, the 37-year-old economist who the left wanted to become premier, told RTL. "The president is placing himself in cohabitation with the National Rally," she said, vowing to table a motion of no confidence against Barnier.

Le Monde daily described Barnier as a "prime minister under the surveillance of the RN". The left-leaning Liberation daily put a picture of Barnier on its front page with "approved by Marine Le Pen" as a rubber stamp.

Barnier was to meet Attal, who remains leader of the president's centrist Together for the Republic (EPR) group in parliament, on Friday before talking to the leaders of his own Republicans (LR) party to discuss the make-up of a new cabinet, his aides said.

Meetings with left-wing politicians, the hard-left France Unbowed (LFI) party and the RN should follow, the aides said.

"He wants solid, competent and effective ministers," one of his aides said, and "will have the freedom of choosing" them.

S.Jackson--SFF