Macron has a new prime minister but the same old problems
France's outgoing Prime Minister Michel Barnier listens to newly-appointed Prime Minister and President of the Democratic Movement (MoDem) party Francois Bayrou speaking during the handover ceremony at the Hotel Matignon in Paris on December 13, 2024.
A career politician, Bayrou, 73, was the torch-bearer of centrism until Macron reshaped the political landscape in 2017, dynamiting the traditional mainstream parties in a campaign Bayrou rallied behind.
