Emmanuel Macron
Élisabeth Borne

On 4 July 2022, Emmanuel Macron carried out the first reshuffle of his minority government, led by Prime minister Élisabeth Borne, since the start of his second presidential term. As it is customary that the Prime minister offers the resignation of their government after a legislative election under the Fifth Republic,[1] a cabinet reshuffle was anticipated. However, the unexpected outcome of the June 2022 legislative election that saw President Macron's centrist coalition losing its majority in Parliament[2] changed the dynamics and nature of the reshuffle: falling 38 seats short of an overall majority in the National Assembly (from a 115-seat majority in the previous Parliament) and with 3 ministers (including 2 senior ones) having lost their seats, the cabinet had to undergo broader changes than expected.[3]

On 21 June 2022, two days after the second round of the legislative election, Prime minister Borne offered her government's resignation to the President but Macron refused it and instead asked the cabinet to "stay on task", a way to avoid a caretaking period that would have prevented ministers from taking important regulatory measures.[4]

Between 21 June and 4 July, both President Macron and his Prime minister held talks with parliamentary opposition leaders in order to try forming a stable majority government.[5] Nonetheless, since no opposition party showed interest in either supporting or entering a Macron-led government, the executive pair ultimately had to settle for a three-party minority coalition government.[6] Also, adding to the political disarray surrounding the imminent reshuffle, Overseas Minister Yaël Braun-Pivet resigned from government on 25 June to run as the presidential bloc's candidate for President of the National Assembly, leaving her ministerial portfolio to the PM to manage.[7]

Despite speculation about the scope of the reshuffle and reports of potential right-leaning appointments to the senior cabinet in a bid to bring the pivotal LR party closer to supporting the administration in Parliament,[8] the reshuffle was less far-reaching than expected. Despite adding two dozen new ministers,[9] few changes to the senior ministerial line-up were made and the new team's composition did not indicate any change of political direction as a result of the legislative election results. Brigitte Bourguignon, Health and Prevention Minister, and Amélie de Montchalin, Ecological Transition and Territorial Cohesion Minister, both resigned from cabinet after losing their seats in the election. Solidarity and Autonomy Minister Damien Abad, a former parliamentary LR leader, was sacked[10] after rape allegations against him emerged and tarnished the presidential coalition's campaign. In the end, the reshuffle was considered to have been used more as an opportunity to calibrate political imbalances between diverse factions inside the cabinet than as a way to broaden its parliamentary appeal in the context of a hung parliament.[11] Furthermore, multiple new junior-ministerial appointments were made and many figures with political experience during Macron's first term were promoted or even returned to government, as proven by Marlène Schiappa's appointment as State Secretary just a month after leaving the cabinet or Olivier Véran's appointment as the government spokesperson after being demoted in May. The new cabinet also included some new figures who were not career politicians, both in cabinet-level and in junior-ministerial jobs, as symbolized by the appointment of François Braun as Health and Prevention Minister.

Just after the reshuffle became effective, Véran, now acting as the government spokesperson, announced that the Prime Minister would not ask the National Assembly for a vote of confidence in her government and that the cabinet intended to govern on an ad hoc, bill-to-bill basis.[12]

Cabinet-level changes

Colour key
  •      Joined the Cabinet
  •      Left the Cabinet
  •      Portfolio renamed
Minister Position before reshuffle Result of reshuffle
Gérald Darmanin Minister of the Interior Became Minister of the Interior and Overseas
Amélie de Montchalin Minister of Ecological Transition and Cohesion of Territories Resigned from government after losing her parliamentary seat
Brigitte Bourguignon Minister of Health and Prevention Resigned from government after losing her parliamentary seat
Damien Abad Minister for Solidarity, Autonomy and the Disabled Sacked from government over rape accusations
Christophe Béchu Deputy Minister for Territorial Collectivities Promoted to become Minister of Ecological Transition and Cohesion of Territories
François Braun Head of the ministerial flash fact-finding mission on emergency medical services and unscheduled care Promoted to become Minister of Health and Prevention
Jean-Christophe Combe Director General of the French Red Cross Promoted to become Minister for Solidarity, Autonomy and the Disabled

Junior ministerial changes

Colour key
  •      Promoted[note 1]
  •      Left the government
Minister Position before reshuffle Result of reshuffle
Olivier Véran Deputy Minister for relations with Parliament and Democratic Life Moved to become Government Spokesperson, Deputy Minister for Democratic Renewal
(portfolio renamed)
Franck Riester Deputy Minister for Attractiveness and International Trade Moved to become Deputy Minister for Relations with Parliament
Clément Beaune Deputy Minister for European Affairs Moved to become Deputy Minister for Transports
(office reestablished)
Justine Bénin State Secretary for the Sea Resigned from government after losing her parliamentary seat
Roland Lescure Member of the National Assembly for the 1st constituency for French residents overseas Promoted to become Deputy Minister for Industry
(office established)
Jean-Noël Barrot Member of the National Assembly for Yvelines's 2nd Promoted to become Deputy Minister for Digital
(office established)
Olivia Grégoire State Secretary to the Prime minister, Government Spokesperson Promoted to become Deputy Minister for Small and Medium Businesses, Trade, Crafts and Tourism
(office established)
Caroline Cayeux Mayor of Beauvais Promoted to become Deputy Minister for Territorial Collectivities
(office established)
Jean-François Carenco President of the Energy Regulatory Commission Promoted to become Deputy Minister for the Overseas
Olivier Becht Member of the National Assembly
for Haut-Rhin's 5th		 Promoted to become Deputy Minister for International Trade, Attractiveness and French Nationals Abroad
Carole Grandjean Member of the National Assembly for Meurthe-et-Moselle's 1st Promoted to become State Secretary for Youth and National Universal Service
Olivier Klein Mayor of Clichy-sous-Bois Promoted to become Deputy Minister for Housing and Cities
(office established)
Geneviève Darrieussecq Member of the National Assembly for Landes's 1st Promoted to become Deputy Minister for People with Disabilities
(office established)
Marlène Schiappa Former Deputy Minister for Citizenship Promoted to become State Secretary for the Social and Solidarity Economy and Associative Life
(office established)
Hervé Berville Member of the National Assembly
for Côtes-d'Armor's 2nd		 Promoted to become State Secretary for the Sea
Sonia Backès President of New Caledonia's South province Assembly Promoted to become State Secretary for Citizenship
(office reestablished)
Laurence Boone Chief economist of the OECD Promoted to become State Secretary for European Affairs
(portfolio renamed)
Sarah El Haïry Member of the National Assembly
for Loire-Atlantique's 5th		 Promoted to become State Secretary for Youth and National Universal Service
(office reestablished)
Patricia Mirallès Member of the National Assembly
for Hérault's 1st		 Promoted to become State Secretary for Veterans' Affairs and Memory
(office reestablished)
Bérangère Couillard Member of the National Assembly
for Gironde's 7th		 Promoted to become State Secretary for Ecology
(office reestablished)
Dominique Faure Member of the National Assembly
for Haute-Garonne's 10th		 Promoted to become State Secretary for Rural Affairs
(office established)

Reaction

Opinion polls

According to an Ifop-Fiducial poll for Sud Radio carried out on the 5 and 6 July 2022, 46% of the French said they were satisfied with the new government's composition, compared to 42% who were satisfied with the initial government's line-up in May 2022 and 48% who were satisfied with the Castex government's composition in July 2020.[13]

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ According to the ministerial order of precedence:
    Minister of State > Minister > Deputy Minister > State Secretary

References

  1. ↑ Marc Sirlereau (21 June 2022). "Pourquoi Elisabeth Borne a-t-elle présenté sa démission ?". RTBF (in French).
  2. ↑ "Macron loses absolute majority as far right makes historic breakthrough and left surges". Le Monde. 19 June 2022.
  3. ↑ "Résultats législatives : ces ministres battues qui doivent quitter le gouvernement". BFMTV (in French). 20 June 2022.
  4. ↑ "Emmanuel Macron refuse la démission d'Elisabeth Borne « afin que le gouvernement reste à sa tâche »". Le Monde (in French). 21 June 2022.
  5. ↑ Claire Gatinois, Mariama Darame and Alexandre Lemarié (25 June 2022). "Bluff poker continues between Macron majority and oppositions". Le Monde (in French).
  6. ↑ Claire Gatinois (5 July 2022). "Le gouvernement « Borne 2 », ou l'échec de la coalition". Le Monde (in French).
  7. ↑ "Yaël Braun-Pivet n'est plus ministre des outre-mer". Le Monde (in French). 26 June 2022.
  8. ↑ "Remaniement ministériel : qui va entrer ? Qui va sortir ?". RTL (in French). 4 July 2022.
  9. ↑ "Remaniement : les cinq choses à retenir sur le nouveau gouvernement Borne". L'Express (in French). 4 July 2022.
  10. ↑ "Damien Abad limogé du gouvernement Borne, Chrysoula Zacharopoulou reste en poste". HuffPost (in French). 4 July 2022.
  11. ↑ "Gouvernement Borne 2 : un remaniement sans tambour ni trompette". France24 (in French). 4 July 2022.
  12. ↑ "« Élisabeth Borne ne sollicitera pas le vote de confiance des parlementaires », annonce le porte-parole du gouvernement, Olivier Véran". Public Sénat (in French). 4 July 2022.
  13. ↑ "La satisfaction des Français à l'égard du nouveau gouvernement". Ifop.com (in French). 8 July 2022.
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