After 51 days of political limbo, the proverbial white smoke finally rose from the Élysée Palace. The appointment of right-wing stalwart Michel Barnier as prime minister marks more than just the conclusion of the French government’s latest reshuffle — it is a revelation of President Emmanuel Macron’s unwavering commitment to blue, the color of conservatism in France. Once hailed as a centrist reformer, Barnier’s appointment reveals Macron’s image to be a meticulously orchestrated act, a calculated deception.
Faced with a chance to respect the will of the people and appoint a prime minister from the left-wing Nouveau Front Populaire coalition — which won more seats than any other group in the Assemblée Nationale during the July snap parliamentary elections — he chose to appoint a stalwart of the right who represents a political party that won less than 6% of the vote. Barnier is best known internationally for his role as the European Union’s chief negotiator during the Brexit talks. In 1981, he famously opposed a bill that sought to end the discrimination that set the age of sexual consent at 15 for heterosexuals and 18 for homosexuals. During the 2021 presidential primary campaign, he ran on a campaign that proposed a moratorium on immigration, the end of state medical aid coverage for undocumented people in France, the return of minimum prison sentences and the raising of the retirement age to 65.
Once hailed as a centrist reformer, Barnier’s appointment reveals Macron’s image to be a meticulously orchestrated act, a calculated deception.
Macron would not have embraced a figure like Barnier during his first campaign for office in 2016. Eight years ago, he posed as a fresh, unifying figure who transcended the old left-right dichotomy. His promise to heal a fractured France through a centrist platform was a seductive proposition to both sides of the political spectrum. Even then, the conservative tendency was always present, lurking beneath the centrist façade. Macron has been implementing conservative neoliberal policies since his first term. From the abolition of the wealth tax to labor deregulation and a flat tax on dividends, his economic reform program has consistently catered to the wealthy and privileged while also alienating large swaths of the French working class, which led to the notorious “yellow vests” protests. These were policies he campaigned on, and they fit snugly within the conservative framework, regardless of the centrist label he wore.
Politically, Macron has always been much more at ease empathizing with his colleagues on the right than on the left. In 2021, when left-wing politicians like radical-left Insoumise leader Jean-Luc Mélenchon faced death threats from far-right extremists, Macron stayed silent. In stark contrast, when far-right pundit and great replacement theorist Éric Zemmour faced street harassment in 2020, Macron personally reached out to express support. Two decisions that speak volumes: a selective silence and strategic outreach that reveal a president who has always been more comfortable aligning with the right than standing up for leftist voices from the start.
Macron’s second term has only amplified this trend. His trademark pension and immigration reforms, the latter justified under the guise of national security, ultimately echoed the nationalist rhetoric of Marine Le Pen. With reelection no longer a concern, Macron has been freer to reveal his true self. With the appointment of Barnier, Macron has finally dropped the act, cementing a conservative core that has been there all along.
The July vote had been called for in the name of “clarity.” Instead, Macron muddied the waters. He didn’t have to appoint the NFP’s prime minister candidate Lucie Castets; he could have appointed a moderate center-left figure like Bernard Cazeneuve or Karim Bouamrane, both of whom publicly expressed their willingness to collaborate across party lines. But while Macron publicly flirted with the idea of appointing Cazeneuve as prime minister, it was never likely. Cazeneuve would have repealed Macron’s pension reform, a red line for a president who appears unwilling to see his work undone, even if it means ignoring the will of the French people.
By appointing Barnier, Macron also knew that the left would likely propose a vote of no confidence in the Assemblée Nationale, meaning that the new prime minister’s political survival relies on votes of the far-right Rassemblement National. In other words, yet again, the president has shown a clear preference for working with the far right over seeking reconciliation with the left.
The left now has the chance to regroup and position itself as a formidable opposition force in the Assemblée Nationale.
What is most damaging about Macron’s duplicity, however, extends beyond his own political identity. By positioning himself as a centrist while implementing conservative policies, he has made it easier for his constituents to slide to the right and has contributed to a broader rightward drift in France. His self-proclaimed image as a unifier has allowed voters to justify their support for increasingly right-wing policies, all while believing they are supporting moderation. It has particularly enabled wealthy voters, who reap the financial benefits of Macronism, to conveniently mask their support behind a veneer of so-called “progressivism” to soothe their consciousness. This gradual normalization of conservative policies has had a profound impact on French politics, moving the Overton window to the right and emboldening the far right.
Macron himself has acknowledged this shift, referring to his relationship with Barnier as “coexistence” rather than “cohabitation” — a term used in French politics when the president and prime minister come from opposing political camps. This subtle change in wording is telling.
Now that Macron’s centrist mask has fallen, at long last, there is a silver lining for the left. The truth is that the appointment of Cazeneuve probably would have been a political disaster. Many within the NFP coalition weren’t on board with him, and it is unclear how the left would have moved forward on a political agenda that was hastily put together days before the election. Even after winning the election, there was a lot of disorder and confusion within the alliance. The left now has the chance to regroup and position itself as a formidable opposition force in the Assemblée Nationale, potentially setting the stage for a strong comeback ahead of the 2027 presidential elections. Or, if we see another dissolution of the Assemblée Nationale in a year’s time, perhaps even sooner.
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