Gabriel Attal

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Gabriel Attal
Attal in 2023
General Secretary of Renaissance
Incumbent
Assumed office
8 December 2024
Preceded byStéphane Séjourné
President of the Renaissance group in the National Assembly
Incumbent
Assumed office
5 September 2024
Preceded bySylvain Maillard
Prime Minister of France
In office
9 January 2024 – 5 September 2024
PresidentEmmanuel Macron
Preceded byÉlisabeth Borne
Succeeded byMichel Barnier
Minister of National Education and Youth
In office
20 July 2023 – 9 January 2024
Prime MinisterÉlisabeth Borne
Preceded byPap Ndiaye
Succeeded byAmélie Oudéa-Castéra
Minister of Public Action and Accounts
In office
20 May 2022 – 20 July 2023
Prime MinisterÉlisabeth Borne
Preceded byOlivier Dussopt
Succeeded byThomas Cazenave
Spokesperson of the Government
In office
6 July 2020 – 20 May 2022
Prime MinisterJean Castex
Preceded bySibeth Ndiaye
Succeeded byOlivia Grégoire
Secretary of State to the Minister of National Education and Youth
In office
16 October 2018 – 6 July 2020
Prime MinisterÉdouard Philippe
Preceded byPosition established
Succeeded bySarah El Haïry
Spokesperson of La République En Marche!
In office
4 January 2018 – 16 October 2018
Preceded byBenjamin Griveaux
Succeeded byLaetitia Avia
Member of the National Assembly
for Hauts-de-Seine's 10th constituency
Incumbent
Assumed office
8 July 2024
Preceded byClaire Guichard
In office
22 June 2022 – 22 July 2022
Preceded byFlorence Provendier
Succeeded byClaire Guichard
In office
21 June 2017 – 16 November 2018
Preceded byAndré Santini
Succeeded byFlorence Provendier
Member of the Vanves City Council
Incumbent
Assumed office
30 March 2014
Personal details
Born
Gabriel Nissim Attal

(1989-03-16) 16 March 1989 (age 35)
Clamart, France
Political partyRenaissance (since 2016)
Other political
affiliations		Socialist Party (2006–2016)
Domestic partnerStéphane Séjourné (2015–2022)
EducationÉcole alsacienne
Alma materSciences Po
Signature

Gabriel Nissim Attal de Couriss (French: [ɡabʁijɛl atal] ⓘ; born 16 March 1989) is a French politician who served as Prime Minister of France from January to September 2024. As a member of the Renaissance party, Attal rapidly rose up the political ranks following his election to the National Assembly in June 2017. He became the Junior Minister to the Minister of National Education and Youth in 2018, which made him the youngest person to serve in the Government of France; the Spokesperson of the Government in 2020; the Minister of Public Action and Accounts in 2022; and the Minister of National Education and Youth in 2023.

On 9 January 2024, amid a major government crisis, he was appointed by the French President, Emmanuel Macron, to replace Élisabeth Borne as prime minister. At the age of 34, he became the youngest person and the first openly gay person to serve as French prime minister.

In June 2024, Macron dissolved the National Assembly and called a snap election following the defeat suffered by his political alliance in the 2024 European Parliament election. Attal led the ruling Ensemble coalition into the 2024 legislative election which resulted in another hung parliament and electoral defeat for the government. On 7 July 2024, shortly after exit polls were released, he announced that he would offer his resignation as Prime Minister. Macron accepted Attal's resignation on 16 July 2024 on the understanding he would remain as head of a caretaker government until a new government was formed. On 5 September 2024, Michel Barnier succeeded him as Prime Minister.

Early life and education

Attal was born on 16 March 1989 in Clamart, Île-de-France. He grew up in the 13th and 14th arrondissements of Paris with three sisters. His father, Yves Attal, was a lawyer and film producer; his mother, Marie de Couriss,[a] worked as an employee of a film production company.[2][3] His father was Jewish and his mother a Russian Orthodox Christian; Attal was raised in his mother's Orthodox Christian faith.[2]

Attal attended the École alsacienne, an exclusive private school in the 6th arrondissement of Paris. He obtained a Baccalauréat with a "Mention Très Bien" in 2007.[4] He went on to study law at Panthéon-Assas University from 2008 to 2011, and earned a Master of Public Affairs from Sciences Po in 2012. He also spent a year (2009–2010) working with Éric de Chassey, director of the French Academy in Rome.[5]

His earliest political activity was participation in the 2006 youth protests in France.[6] Taking up a place at Sciences Po in 2007, he created a committee for the support of Íngrid Betancourt, the Franco-Colombian hostage held by the FARC.[7]

Political career

Early political career

After an internship at the French National Assembly with Marisol Touraine during the 2012 presidential campaign, Attal worked for five years as an assistant to the Minister of Health, a role which involved parliamentary liaison and speechwriting.[8]

In the 2014 municipal elections, Attal was placed fifth on the Socialist Party list. He was elected as one of the four Socialist Party councillors of Vanves and took over the lead of the opposition, after the resignation of the head of the socialist list.[9]

Member of the National Assembly (2017–2018)

Attal in 2017

Attal was elected to the French National Assembly on 18 June 2017, representing the Hauts-de-Seine's 10th constituency, winning out over the designated successor of André Santini.[8][10]

Attal was quickly considered one of the most talented new members of parliament, with Amélie de Montchalin.[11] As a deputy of the National Assembly, he became a member of the Committee on Cultural and Education Affairs, where he served as whip of the group La République En Marche!.[12]

In December 2017, Attal was appointed rapporteur on a bill on access to higher education.[13]

Attal was named chairperson of La République En Marche! in January 2018[14] and in September 2018, after the election of Richard Ferrand to the presidency of the National Assembly, he ran as a candidate to succeed him as president of the group La République En Marche!, but withdrew his candidacy the day before the election when he was considered one of the three favourites.[15] He later endorsed Roland Lescure.[16]

Government minister (2018–2024)

Attal in 2019

On 16 October 2018, Attal was appointed Secrétaire d'État (junior minister) to the Minister of National Education and Youth Jean-Michel Blanquer. At 29, he was the youngest member of a government under the Fifth Republic, beating the previous record set by François Baroin in 1995 by a few months. As a junior minister, he was responsible for youth issues and setting up universal national service.[11] From 2020 to 2022, he was the government spokesperson under Prime Minister Jean Castex.[17] He became Minister of Public Action and Accounts in the government of Prime Minister Élisabeth Borne in May 2022.[18]

In July 2023, Attal was appointed minister of national education and youth in the 2023 French government reshuffle.[19] At the age of 34, he became the youngest person to hold that office under the Fifth Republic.[20] In this position, he announced the ban on abayas under the "principle of secularism", extending a ban on religious symbols in French public schools that already included Christian crosses, Jewish Kippahs and Islamic veils.[21][22]

Prime Minister (2024)

See also: Attal government
Attal and German chancellor Olaf Scholz in Berlin on 5 February 2024

Following Borne's resignation as prime minister on 8 January 2024, media sources announced Attal as favourite to succeed her.[23] His appointment as Prime Minister was announced on 9 January 2024. At the age of 34, he became the youngest and the first openly gay person to hold the office in France.[24]

Lacking a parliamentary majority as a result of the 2022 legislative election, Attal formed a minority government, the second one since the start of the Macron Presidency. He appointed what was widely described as the most right-leaning cabinet since Macron took office, with over half of his senior ministers previously coming from the conservative UMP/LR party.[25]

At the beginning of his tenure as prime minister, Attal was seen as one of the most popular politicians in France.[26] The French media speculated that he was a potential contender in the 2027 presidential election.[27][b]

On 16 January 2024, Attal announced that, like Élisabeth Borne before him, he would not be seeking a vote of confidence in the National Assembly as implicitly allowed in the French Constitution.[28]

On 9 June 2024, Macron called a snap election after his party's disappointing results in the 2024 European Parliament election.[29] Although he was not in agreement with Macron's decision, Attal took on the leadership of Macron's Ensemble alliance's election campaign.[30][31] In the first round of voting on 30 June, Ensemble won only 20.0% of the votes, in third place behind the far-right National Rally (RN) with 33.3% and the left-wing alliance New Popular Front (NFP) with 28.0%, which constituted the worst electoral performance for a ruling coalition in a general election since the establishment of the Third Republic in 1870. Attal said that the priority was to prevent NR from gaining an absolute majority in the National Assembly and asked Ensemble candidates in third place against NR in their constituencies to withdraw from the second round of voting.[32] The second round of voting on 7 July resulted in Ensemble winning 168 seats, behind NFP with 182 and ahead of RN with 143.[33] Attal offered his resignation to the president the following morning, only for it to be refused by Macron, who asked him to stay on for the time being in order to maintain the stability of the country.[34] Attal retained his own seat in the Hauts-de-Seine's 10th constituency with 58.2% of the vote in a contest against NFP candidate Cécile Soubelet.[35]

On 13 July 2024, Attal was elected unopposed as leader of the Renaissance Party in the National Assembly with the support of 84 of the 98 Renaissance members.[36] Macron formally accepted Attal's resignation on 16 July 2024, but at the same time asked him to remain in place as head of a caretaker government.[37]

Post-premiership (2024–present)

On 5 September 2024, President Macron appointed Michel Barnier as the new prime minister. At the handover ceremony the following day, Attal made a speech in which he expressed his frustration at having had only eight months in office – too little time to see any of his plans come to fruition. On leaving the office of prime minister, he took on leadership of Macron's party in the National Assembly.[38]

Personal life

In 2018, Attal was outed on Twitter by his former École alsacienne classmate Juan Branco.[39][40] Attal lived in a civil union with Stéphane Séjourné at the time.[41] Their relationship had ended by 2024.[2]

When they were both attending the École alsacienne, Attal had a relationship with singer Joyce Jonathan,[42] but Jonathan said that the relationship was merely "a joke between us" and "a playtime crush".[43]

Attal said in a TV interview that he had been subjected to homophobic bullying at school.[2] He has also described being the target of homophobic and antisemitic hate speech on social media as a politician.[44] Attal has also been criticized by LGBT rights organizations for not being outspoken enough about his sexuality and the promotion of LGBT rights.[45][46]

Though baptized as a member of the Russian Orthodox Church, Attal considers himself an atheist.[47][48]

Ancestry

Attal's father was of Tunisian Jewish and Alsatian Jewish descent. His mother is of French and Greek-Russian ancestry from Odesa, her grandfather having arrived in France as a White Russian émigré. Genealogists have found both French and Russian nobility, including members of the La Forest-Divonne family in France and the House of Golitsyn in Russia, amongst her ancestors. Through his mother, Attal is descended from King Charles VI of France and Queen consort Isabeau of Bavaria, who signed the Treaty of Troyes making King Henry V of England heir to the French throne during the Hundred Years' War.[49]

See also

Notes

  1. ^ When his parents divorced, Attal added de Couriss to his name.[1]
  2. ^ Macron is not eligible for a third consecutive term in office; the president of France is only allowed two consecutive five-year terms in office and Macron was elected in 2017 and 2022.

References

  1. ^ "Critique des médias, attaques sur Macron... On a lu "Crépuscule", le livre "censuré" de Juan Branco". France Info (in French). 25 April 2019. Archived from the original on 8 August 2023. Retrieved 10 January 2024.
  2. ^ a b c d Goury-Laffont, Victor (9 January 2024). "Who is Gabriel Attal, France's new prime minister?". Politico Europe. Archived from the original on 9 January 2024. Retrieved 9 January 2024.
  3. ^ Bancaud, Delphine (16 October 2018). "Qui est Gabriel Attal, le plus jeune membre d'un gouvernement de la Ve République?" [Who is Gabriel Attal, the youngest member of a government of the Fifth Republic?] (in French). 20 Minutes. Archived from the original on 14 April 2023. Retrieved 26 October 2018.
  4. ^ "Résultat bac 2007 académie de Paris - Gabriel Attal". resultat-bac.linternaute.com (in French). Archived from the original on 11 January 2024. Retrieved 11 January 2024.
  5. ^ Baudais, Pierrick (20 December 2017). "Qui est Gabriel Attal, le futur porte-parole de la République en marche?" [Who is Gabriel Attal, the future spokesperson for the Republic on the move?] (in French). Ouest-France. Archived from the original on 1 October 2023. Retrieved 26 October 2018.
  6. ^ Laurent Telo (13 April 2018). "Du Parti socialiste à La République en marche, la mue fulgurante de Gabriel Attal" [From the Socialist Party to La République En Marche!, the dazzling transformation of Gabriel Attal]. Le Monde.fr (in French). Le Monde. Archived from the original on 1 October 2023. Retrieved 26 October 2017.
  7. ^ Jeudy, Bruno (20 August 2018). "Gabriel Attal : "Le jour où je rencontre Ingrid Betancourt"" [Gabriel Attal: "The day I meet Ingrid Betancourt"] (in French). Paris Match. Archived from the original on 1 October 2023. Retrieved 26 October 2018.
  8. ^ a b "Qui est Gabriel Attal, votre député (LREM) d'Issy-Vanves" [Who is Gabriel Attal, your deputy (LREM) of Issy-Vanves] (in French). Le Parisien. 19 June 2017. Archived from the original on 31 March 2019. Retrieved 26 October 2018.
  9. ^ Petitdemange, Amélie (16 October 2018). "Gabriel Attal: un vingtenaire débarque dans le gouvernement" [Gabriel Attal: a twenty-something arrives in the government] (in French). Les Échos. Archived from the original on 26 October 2018. Retrieved 26 October 2018.
  10. ^ "Elections législatives 2017" (in French). Ministry of the Interior. Archived from the original on 9 January 2024. Retrieved 19 June 2017.
  11. ^ a b Lemarié, Alexandre (16 October 2018). "Gabriel Attal, Secretary of State at Blanquer" (in French). Le Monde. Archived from the original on 6 August 2019. Retrieved 26 October 2018.
  12. ^ Vigoureux, Caroline; Bertolus, Jean-Jérôme (13 September 2017). "Les whips, ces députés LREM de l'ombre au rôle stratégique" [The whips, these LREM deputies from the shadow to the strategic role] (in French). L'Opinion. Archived from the original on 13 August 2020. Retrieved 26 October 2018.
  13. ^ Stromboni, Camille; Lemarié, Alexandre (4 December 2017). "Gabriel Attal : « Il faudra être très vigilant sur la rentrée 2018 à l'université »" [Gabriel Attal: "It will be necessary to be very vigilant on the re-entry 2018 at the university"] (in French). Le Monde. Archived from the original on 1 October 2023. Retrieved 26 October 2018.
  14. ^ ""Un honneur": le député Gabriel Attal sera le porte-parole de LREM en janvier" ["An honor": the MP Gabriel Attal will be the spokesperson of LREM in January] (in French). France Info. 20 December 2017. Archived from the original on 1 October 2023. Retrieved 26 October 2018.
  15. ^ Siraud, Mathilde (18 September 2018). "Présidence du groupe LaREM à l'Assemblée: Attal et Bonnell jettent l'éponge" [Presidency of the LREM Group in the Assembly: Attal and Bonnell throw in the towel] (in French). Le Figaro. Archived from the original on 6 October 2023. Retrieved 26 October 2018.
  16. ^ Boichot, Loris (14 September 2018). "Qui sont les sept macronistes qui veulent diriger les députés LaREM après Ferrand?". Le Figaro. Archived from the original on 1 October 2023. Retrieved 13 April 2020.
  17. ^ "Gouvernement Castex en direct: Darmanin nommé ministre de l'intérieur, Dupond-Moretti garde des sceaux et Bachelot à la culture". Le Monde (in French). 6 July 2020. Archived from the original on 1 November 2020. Retrieved 6 July 2020.
  18. ^ Boiteau, Victor (20 May 2022). "Changement dans la continuité: Darmanin, Le Maire, Attal… Ces ministres qui remettent ça dans le gouvernement Borne" (in French). Libération. Archived from the original on 2 June 2022. Retrieved 23 May 2022.
  19. ^ "Macron sacks education, health ministers in mini-reshuffle". Politico. 20 July 2023. Archived from the original on 9 January 2024. Retrieved 24 August 2023.
  20. ^ de Villaines, Astrid; Garcia, Émilie; Toussay, Jade (20 July 2023). "Gabriel Attal ministre de l'Éducation nationale, itinéraire d'un surdoué de la politique" (in French). HuffPost. Archived from the original on 1 September 2023. Retrieved 27 August 2023.
  21. ^ Chrisafis, Angelique (28 August 2023). "France to ban girls from wearing abayas in state schools". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Archived from the original on 5 September 2023. Retrieved 6 September 2023.
  22. ^ "French education minister announces ban on religious symbols and clothes in schools". POLITICO. 27 August 2023. Archived from the original on 9 January 2024. Retrieved 9 January 2024.
  23. ^ "French PM resigns as Macron seeks to relaunch presidency". France 24. 8 January 2024. Archived from the original on 8 January 2024. Retrieved 9 January 2024.
  24. ^ Willsher, Kim (9 January 2024). "Who is Gabriel Attal, the French PM who climbed the ranks in record time?". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 9 January 2024. Retrieved 9 January 2024.
  25. ^ "Attal government: Macronism shifts to the right". Les Échos (in French). 11 January 2023. Archived from the original on 11 January 2024. Retrieved 12 January 2024.
  26. ^ "Eyeing future, Macron breaks with tradition by picking popular PM". France 24. 10 January 2024. Archived from the original on 10 January 2024. Retrieved 11 January 2024.
  27. ^ "Attal: the 'new Macron' at helm of French government". France 24. 9 January 2024. Archived from the original on 9 January 2024. Retrieved 6 September 2024.
  28. ^ Beaumont, Olivier (16 January 2024). "General policy declaration: Gabriel Attal rejects the idea of a vote of confidence". Le Parisien (in French). Archived from the original on 16 January 2024. Retrieved 16 January 2024.
  29. ^ "Macron takes huge risk with surprise election". BBC. 9 June 2024. Retrieved 6 September 2024.
  30. ^ Kirby, Paul (29 June 2024). "French PM in final appeal to stop far-right victory". BBC. Retrieved 6 September 2024.
  31. ^ Gatinois, Claire (14 June 2024). "Législatives: Gabriel Attal, chef de file du camp présidentiel, se lance dans la bataille malgré l'amertume". Le Monde (in French). Retrieved 6 September 2024.
  32. ^ Deloy, Corinne (2 July 2024). "The Rassemblement National leads in the first round of legislative elections in France". Robert Schumann Foundation. Retrieved 6 September 2024.
  33. ^ "2024 French elections: map and chart of results". Le Monde. 8 July 2024. Retrieved 6 September 2024.
  34. ^ Kirby, Paul (8 July 2024). "Macron asks French PM to stay on as political deadlock continues". BBC. Retrieved 6 September 2024.
  35. ^ "French elections: Prime Minister Gabriel Attal retains his seat west of Paris". Le Monde. 8 July 2024. Retrieved 6 September 2024.
  36. ^ "French PM Attal elected head of Macron's Renaissance group in Parliament". Le Monde. 13 July 2024. Retrieved 13 July 2024.
  37. ^ Gozzi, Laura (16 July 2024). "Macron accepts PM resignation but asks him to stay on". BBC. Retrieved 6 September 2024.
  38. ^ Gatinois, Claire (6 September 2024). "Ex-prime minister Gabriel Attal leaves office with eyes on the future". Le Monde. Retrieved 6 September 2024.
  39. ^ Girard, Quentin (23 April 2019). "Gabriel Attal, de ses propres zèles". Libération (in French). Archived from the original on 9 January 2024.
  40. ^ "Juan Branco a-t-il une "haine quasi-obsessionnelle" à l'endroit de Benjamin Griveaux?". Radio France Internationale (in French). 18 February 2020. Archived from the original on 9 January 2024. Retrieved 28 August 2023.
  41. ^ Biseau, Grégoire (31 October 2021). "Stéphane Séjourné et Gabriel Attal, un couple au cœur du pouvoir". Le Monde (in French). Archived from the original on 9 January 2024.
  42. ^ Wolfstirn, Anastasia (9 January 2024). "Gabriel Attal : son histoire d'amour avec une célèbre chanteuse". Gala (in French). Archived from the original on 9 January 2024.
  43. ^ Lemarchand, Allan (30 June 2023). ""C'est une blague entre nous" : Joyce Jonathan revient sur son histoire d'amour avec Gabriel Attal". Gala (in French). Archived from the original on 29 November 2023.
  44. ^ Sitbon, Shirli (31 July 2023). "Gabriel Attal: Barrage of antisemitic abuse for rising star of French politics". The Jewish Chronicle. Archived from the original on 11 January 2024.
  45. ^ Krief, Barbara (12 January 2024). "Gabriel Attal, gay mais pas queer". L'Obs (in French). Archived from the original on 12 January 2024. Retrieved 19 January 2024.
  46. ^ Bussigny, Nora (16 January 2024). "Quand la nomination d'Attal déchaîne l'homophobie de militants… LGBT". Le Point (in French). Archived from the original on 16 January 2024. Retrieved 23 January 2024.
  47. ^ d’Oléon, Alice (10 January 2024). "France's new prime minister has Russian Orthodox and Jewish roots". La Croix International. Archived from the original on 10 January 2024. Retrieved 28 March 2024.
  48. ^ Fontaine, Nicolas (13 February 2024). "Les cousins royaux de Gabriel Attal et ses nobles origines". Histoires Royales (in French). Archived from the original on 16 February 2024. Retrieved 9 June 2024.
  49. ^ "La très belle généalogie de Gabriel Attal". La Revue française de Généalogie. 1 January 2024. Archived from the original on 10 January 2024.
Political offices
Preceded by Spokesperson of the Government
2020–2022 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Minister of Public Action and Accounts
2022–2023 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Minister of National Education and Youth
2023–2024 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Prime Minister of France
2024 		Succeeded by
Order of precedence
Preceded byas former Prime Minister Order of precedence in France
Former Prime Minister 		Succeeded byas former Prime Minister
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