PARIS — After days of speculation, Emmanuel Macron surprised France by picking 34-year-old Gabriel Attal, who had just recently taken charge of the French education ministry, as the country’s new prime minister.
Attal, who got his start in institutional politics at 23 as a health ministry staffer, becomes France’s youngest ever prime minister — ahead of Socialist Laurent Fabius, who got the top spot in government under François Mitterrand in 1984, aged 37.
Here are 11 other things to know about Attal, France’s new head of government.
1. Early Macron supporter but not a member of the president’s inner circle
France’s new prime minister left the Socialist Party in 2016 to back then-Minister of Economy Emmanuel Macron’s presidential bid. Despite his enduring support for the president, Attal has never been listed among Macron’s closest allies and confidants, unlike Armed Forces Minister Sébastien Lecornu and the former Minister of Agriculture Julien Denormandie, both of whom were also listed as possible candidates for the government’s most sought-after job.
2. Comms expert with political savvy
Attal’s resume includes a 10-month stint in 2018 as spokesperson for La République En Marche, the pro-Macron movement now known as Renaissance, and two years as government spokesperson from 2020 to 2022. The period included Macron’s run for reelection and the Covid pandemic, during which Attal impressed with impeccable media hits.
3. First-ever openly gay prime minister
Gabriel Attal publicly came out as gay shortly after joining government in 2018 and made public his civil union with Renew Europe’s current leader and likely Renaissance lead candidate for the 2024 European election Stéphane Séjourné.
The two political leaders are no longer an item but have never publicly confirmed their breakup. Séjourné, notoriously protective of his private life, declined to comment on their relationship status for a Libération profile story.
4. France’s new favorite politician
Attal’s favorability rating skyrocketed over the past six months as media attention grew, which eventually led to him overtaking former prime minister and presidential hopeful Edouard Philippe as France’s most popular politician according to an IPSOS poll from December.
5. His classmates already voted him for president … 12 years ago
Attal’s political know-how was already on full display during an interview shot in 2012 during his college years, with classmates at Sciences Po, Paris’ unofficial school for politicians, describing a young Attal as the future president.
6. Bullied as a teenager
Attal attended Paris’ prestigious private school l’Ecole Alsacienne with Juan Branco, Julian Assange’s former lawyer, a controversial public figure who has frequently gone after the new prime minister in a book and on social media.
In a TV interview, Attal described being targeted by repeated homophobic bullying and all but named Branco as the culprit, describing the firebrand lawyer as “obsessed” with him. Branco has denied this.
7. A former socialist who earned conservatives’ respect
The new government head joined the Socialist Party in 2006, before he was legally allowed to vote, but has attracted favorable attention from right-wing commentators and political figures, and been described as a political chameleon with few firm stances.
Attal kicked off his time as education minister by banning abayas, long robes sometimes worn by Muslim women, in schools — a move Les Républicains’ President Eric Ciotti deemed “courageous.” France’s last Conservative President Nicolas Sarkozy reportedly pushed the former education minister to consider a run for president in 2027, weekly newspaper La Tribune reported.
8. He refused to be health minister
Despite his experience working with former Socialist Health Minister Marisol Touraine and his handling of the government’s official communication during the Covid-19 pandemic, Attal turned down an offer to take charge of the French health care system during last summer’s mini-reshuffle.
9. A privileged upbringing
Following his appointment as education minister, Attal was slammed by some political opponents for having exclusively attended private schools during his childhood. Though he recognized he was “lucky” growing up, Attal also stressed the “hardships” he went through, pointing to his parents’ divorce as an example during a tell-all interview with French TV channel TF1. Attal’s father, film producer Yves Attal, died in 2015.
10. A mixed religious and cultural background
Attal’s father Yves was of Tunisian Jewish descent and part of his family was deported during World War II, according to a Le Monde profile story, but was raised as an Orthodox Christian by his mother whose origins trace back to Russia.
11. A Brigitte Macron favorite
As education minister, Attal worked closely with Emmanuel Macron’s wife Brigitte, a former teacher with a keen eye on the sector. The pair worked mostly on eradicating bullying in schools and the French first lady backed some of the young minister’s policy proposals, including his push to try out mandatory uniforms for pupils.