Reshuffle: who are the contenders for the post of Prime Minister?

On Monday March 20, 2023, Elisabeth Borne narrowly escaped the motion of censure carried by the deputies of the LIOT group opposing the adoption by 49.3 of the pension reform. 9 votes were missing. Since then, the street rumbles and the executive fails to calm the growing tensions. According to an Ifop poll, published by the Sunday Journal this Wednesday, March 29, 71% of French people would be in favor of a cabinet reshuffle.

Emmanuel Macron has so far shown no signs of an upcoming reshuffle. Other avenues for a way out of the crisis are multiplying. The Elysée is proposing a new method of governance, a new parliamentary calendar, new topics for debate. All to make people forget the pension reform and appease the public debate.

But, it is clear that Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne is not unanimous, both among the French and in the corridors of the National Assembly. The presidential majority implodes and those who imagine themselves succeeding him are already positioning themselves, only half concealing their reproaches.

A Renaissance deputy explained: “What I hear is that there has to be a culprit. It’s Dussopt or it’s Borne. And in the group, we hear that it’s Borne […] Many think so, that we have to find a head. And since the deputies do not want it to be theirs, the other solution is for it to be the Prime Minister” (comment collected by Public Sénat).

In franceinfo’s political brief for this Thursday, March 30, 2023, Jean-Rémi Baudot presents potential suitors for Matignon: these politicians would be ready to say yes to Matignon. Discover the profiles of the 5 contenders for the post of Prime Minister in the slideshow below.