François Bayrou

François Bayrou (French: [fʁɑ̃swa bajʁu] ; born 25 May 1951) is a French politician who served as Prime Minister of France from December 2024 to September 2025. He has presided over the European Democratic Party (EDP) since 2004 and the Democratic Movement (MoDem) since 2007. A centrist, he was a candidate in the 2002, 2007 and 2012 presidential elections.

From 1993 to 1997, Bayrou was Minister of National Education in three successive governments. He was also a member of the National Assembly for a seat in Pyrénées-Atlantiques from 1986 to 2012 with brief interruptions and a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) from 1999 to 2002. He has been mayor of Pau since 2014.

It was speculated that Bayrou would be a candidate in the 2017 presidential election, but he decided not to run and instead supported Emmanuel Macron, who – after winning the election – named him Minister of State and Minister of Justice in the government headed by Édouard Philippe. On 21 June 2017, he resigned from the government amid an investigation into the MoDem's allegedly fraudulent employment of parliamentary assistants, initiated earlier that month. He was cleared of those accusations in 2024.

On 13 December 2024, he was appointed as prime minister by Emmanuel Macron after the Barnier government was brought down by a vote of no confidence. He himself was brought down by a confidence vote, and submitted his resignation on 9 September 2025. Polls had shown he had become the most unpopular prime minister under the Fifth Republic.