Parties divided over who should be next PMpublished at 17:20 Greenwich Mean Time
Laura Gozzi
Europe reporter
Already today, many potential names have been
floated by the media speculating who could succeed Barnier.
Among them are Defence Minister Sébastien Lecornu,
Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau and François Bayrou, the former centrist
presidential candidate.
Some of these names look more solid than others.
Lecornu, for instance, has already denied being a candidate while,
intriguingly, French media are reporting Bayrou was seeing President Macron
later this afternoon.
These names – hailing from the right and the centre
of the political spectrum – could be palatable to Marine Le Pen, who commands
the most MPs in parliament.
None, however, belong to any of the many parties
that make up the left-wing New Popular Front alliance (NFP).
Many NFP members have always said they would vote
down any candidate that doesn’t belong to its ranks.
There
are virtually no candidates that would be accepted by both the NFP and Marine
Le Pen’s RN.
So,
either way, one of the two biggest factions in the French parliament will be
disappointed and refuse to back Macron’s choice – making the support for the
next PM shaky at best.