A look back at Bayrou's time as French PM

FRANCE 24 English

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00:00François Bayrou's four-decade political career is hanging in the balance.

00:05He was appointed as Prime Minister on the 13th of December 2024, replacing Michel Barnier.

00:12It was a crowning achievement for Bayrou after three unsuccessful presidential bids.

00:17But it was never going to be smooth sailing.

00:20France's government was already in crisis over its plans to bring down the country's debt.

00:24I know that the chances of difficulties are much greater than the chances of success.

00:35I am well aware of the Himalayan mountain of difficulties of all kinds that await us,

00:40first and foremost budgetary, of course, then political,

00:44and the deterioration of the society in which we find ourselves.

00:49Within his first few weeks, those difficulties grew,

00:52beginning with the Beteram affair.

00:55It's one of France's biggest child abuse scandals in a school.

00:58Bayrou was Education Minister at the time the crimes took place.

01:02But how much did he know?

01:03For the left, there is no doubt,

01:05and a parliamentary inquiry commission accused him of failure to act.

01:09That's something he rejects.

01:13I did everything I had to do when I was minister,

01:16and I did everything I thought I had to do when I was no longer minister.

01:22Then there was the failure of Bayrou's pension conclave.

01:26This closed-door meeting with trade unions and employer organisations

01:30aimed to find a solution to the country's unpopular 2023 retirement reform.

01:35It ended with no agreement.

01:37Another notable event in the last nine months

01:39was the forced passage of legislation that authorised the return of a controversial pesticide.

01:45Research has shown it to be harmful,

01:46and its reintroduction was blocked by France's Constitutional Council in August.

01:51Despite some legislative successes,

01:54such as laws to combat drug trafficking and to rebuild cyclone-hit Mayotte,

01:58Bayrou is deeply unpopular.

02:00A recent Ipsos poll indicates only 19% of French people,

02:04just one in five,

02:05have a favourable opinion of their prime minister.

02:08I'll see you later.

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