00:00 Education Minister Gabriel Attal, a close ally of French President Emmanuel Macron,
00:07 who gained prominence as government spokesman during the COVID pandemic, was widely cited
00:12 by political sources and French media as a strong favourite to replace Warney.
00:18 His appointment was confirmed shortly after midday.
00:20 Attal, at 34, has become France's youngest Prime Minister and the first to be openly
00:26 gay.
00:27 Not only would he be the youngest PM of France, but he would also stand as the youngest PM
00:32 in the world after Sainte-Marie of Finland stepped down last year.
00:36 Once a member of France's Socialist Party before joining Macron, Attal was a junior
00:41 finance minister and became education minister in 2023, making a name for himself as one
00:46 of Macron's most savvy ministers, at ease on radio shows and in parliament.
00:52 If it is indeed Gabriel Attal, it was the best card the president could play, IFOP pollster
00:58 Jerome Forkett told BFMTV before the appointment, pointing to his popularity, which he said
01:04 Attal gained thanks to taking quick action as education minister and through his communication
01:09 skills.
01:10 Opposition leaders were quick to say they did not expect much from the change in the
01:13 Prime Minister.
01:14 Notably, before Attal, the youngest PM in the world was Social Democrat Sanna Marén
01:20 of Finland, 34, who was sworn in as the head of a coalition whose four other parties are
01:26 all led by women, three of them in their 30s in 2019.
01:30 At that time, Marén was a transport minister.
01:33 She had taken over from Antti Rinne, a former trade unionist who resigned just after six
01:38 months in office when he lost the confidence of the Centre Party, a coalition partner,
01:42 over his handling of a postal strike.
01:44 However, Finland's former Prime Minister Sanna Marén stepped down on September 1,
01:49 2019 as chair of the centre-left Social Democrats, hoping to take the focus of her personal life
01:54 after an often turbulent four years at the helm.
01:57 [Music]
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