Labour Minister Elisabeth Borne Becomes France's 1st Female PM in 30 years

By: WE Staff | Wednesday, 18 May 2022

As he prepares for legislative elections in June, French President Emmanuel Macron nominated Labour Minister Elisabeth Borne as his next prime minister, the second woman to hold the position in 30 years.

Earlier in the day, Prime Minister Jean Castex resigned, paving the door for a government reshuffle following Macron's re-election in April.

Macron has been looking for a premier with green and social policy credentials, as he has to demonstrate that he has understood the complaints of voters indicated by low turnout and strong support for the far right and far left.

A profile like this might help offset the challenge presented by hard-left veteran Jean-Luc Melenchon, who finished third in the presidential race, allowing him to organise a broad coalition of left-leaning parties in the June 12-19 parliamentary vote.

Borne, 61, will be the first woman to be named prime minister since Edith Cresson temporarily held the position during Socialist leader Francois Mitterrand's administration in the early 1990s.

Borne, a soft-spoken career bureaucrat who worked for several Socialist Party ministers before entering Macron's government, had a brief time as environment minister in 2019 when she advocated for bike-friendly laws.

She later became the Minister of Labour, where she handled union talks that resulted in some job seekers' unemployment benefits being reduced.

Unemployment fell to its lowest point in 15 years under her control, and young unemployment fell to its lowest point in 40 years.

Borne's profound understanding of the state's internal dynamics will aid Macron in implementing more challenging reforms. She'll be in charge of confronting France's powerful unions and overseeing his most divisive election promise: raising the retirement age.

A former Borne employee remarked, “She is a real workaholic, someone who can push on until 3 in the morning and be back again at 7 a.m.”

Borne, a quiet technocrat who has never run for public office, solidified her reputation as a tough negotiator with unions during Macron's first term.

In 2017, as transport minister, she stood firm despite weeks of strikes and demonstrations to dismantle the SNCF railway workers' lucrative pension and benefits scheme.