Francois Bayrou takes over as Prime Minister of France

Michel Barnier handed power to his successor at a ceremony in Paris

The newly-appointed Prime Minister Francois Bayrou at the handover ceremony at the Hotel Matignon in Paris. AFP

Veteran centrist politician Francois Bayrou became Prime Minister of France on Friday, just over a week after a vote in parliament caused the government to collapse.

A handover ceremony was held in Paris and Mr Bayrou was expected to put forward his list of ministers in the coming days.

“The President of the Republic has appointed Mr Francois Bayrou as Prime Minister and tasked him with forming a government,” said President Emmanuel Macron.

Mr Bayrou, 73, is expected to face similar issues that forced the resignation of his predecessor Michel Barnier earlier this month when he tried to force through his government's annual budget, triggering a no-confidence vote in parliament.

The new Prime Minister will have to tackle France's record debt which amounts to 112 per cent of GDP and counter a perception of lack of legitimacy in parliament, where there is no clear majority, though far-right political party the National Rally represents the largest bloc.

He said the deficit and public debt were a moral problem because “passing it on to one's children is a terrible thing to do”.

“The deficit and the debt, that's an issue which raises moral questions,” Mr Bayrou said in his first speech. “No one knows better than me the difficulty of the situation … I am fully aware of the Himalayas that loom ahead of us.”

He also vowed to fight what he described as the “glass wall that has risen up between citizens and the authorities”.

Mr Barnier, his predecessor, told him: “Our country is in an unprecedented and grave situation.”

The vote of no-confidence against Mr Barnier was widely viewed as an attempt by political parties to challenge Mr Macron, amid calls for his resignation. They followed an unpopular call for snap elections in July that weakened his group's position in parliament. In a speech last week, Mr Macron said he firmly intended to stay in power until his mandate ends in 2027.

The National Rally party said they would not call for an immediate no-confidence motion against Mr Bayrou but left-wing party France Unbowed said it would do so. Socialists have said they would not participate in his cabinet. “We hope that [Mr Bayrou] will be a better negotiator than Mr Barnier,” National Rally MP Laure Lavalette told BFMTV.

The appointment on Friday came after Mr Macron missed a self-imposed 48-hour deadline to announce a new prime minister. He had spent the previous days speaking to leaders from the conservatives to the Communists, seeking to lock in support for Mr Bayrou. National Rally and France Unbowed were excluded. Mr Macron appeared to be keen to avoid a repeat of the seven-week delay it took to nominate Mr Barnier after the parliamentary election.

Les Republicains, a conservative group, will decide if members will participate in the new government after Mr Bayrou presents his political ambitions, party leader Laurent Wauquiez said.

France’s credit rating was downgraded to Aa3 from Aa2 by Moody’s following similar moves this week from Fitch and S&P. The decision “reflects our view that the country’s public finances will be substantially weakened over the coming years”, Moody’s said in a statement.

Reports in French media described a tense meeting earlier on Friday between Mr Macron and Mr Bayrou during which the latter threatened to leave the centrist coalition, leading the president to rule out nominating him as prime minister, before changing his mind.

Mr Bayrou is the founder of the Democratic Movement party which has been a part of Mr Macron's ruling alliance since 2017, and has run for president three times, leaning on his rural roots as the longtime mayor of the south-western town of Pau.

Mr Macron appointed Mr Bayrou as justice minister in 2017 but he resigned only weeks later amid an investigation into his party's alleged fraudulent employment of parliamentary assistants. He was cleared of fraud charges this year.