Barnier is not a centrist. He’s always been part of the Conservative Party,
It’s a shift. It’s a turn to the right for sure. The far right, which was defeated in July, is now in a position of strength, sort of a kingmaker. Macron’s party and the Republicans do not have enough votes without the RN,
Barnier comes from the fourth block in terms of electoral strength: the number of MPs. This is unusual, the prime minister should normally come from a more dominant block,
He’s a staple in French politics. He’s been around long enough that we can criticise things he did in the ’80s, which on one hand doesn’t feel fair, but on the other, that’s the lifecycle of politics,
One was to invite the left, who came out on top, to choose someone. But Macron dismissed this early on, saying that everyone else would censure a candidate on the left,
It shows the alliance that Macron wants to form since it will be with the far right that he is choosing to govern,
It’s a sharp contrast to the France we portrayed during the opening ceremony that was very open, very liberal. We’ve gone from a gay prime minister [Attal] to a very conservative one,
Macron made no compromises. That’s what is the most disappointing. I wasn’t expecting much, but I am still really disappointed,
The left is disappointed because the right essentially suffered huge losses, but Macron still selected a conservative prime minister,
Having lost the snap election, Macron couldn’t possibly pick someone from his own party – that would have gone against the results of the election,
He gave an excuse of institutional stability,
The country’s état d’esprit [mood] is that no one seems to care. There is little interest in Macron’s nomination. It feels like Macron is just continuing on and nothing’s changed,
He visits Charles de Gaulle’s memorial every year. He’s a hardcore Gaullist, the traditional, conservative,
I think Mr Barnier fits this criterion,
On the left, we really insisted that everyone vote and fight against the far right. And it worked so well. But I am worried now that people will say that it was all for nothing. Macron proved them right. I’m worried that next time, people won’t turn out against the far right,
Today, we have a prime minister who is completely dependent on the RN,
It's now the far right that makes the kings or queens,
There is no red line ... We need to open the door ... to all those who want it."
We must not call into question this law which was adopted in very difficult circumstances,
But the same homosexual relationship ... was considered a crime,