Macron set to announce new French prime minister

President Emmanuel Macron will announce on Friday his choice for France's next prime minister, his office says, in a bid to end months of political turmoil.

Macron said two days ago he wanted to name a new head of government within 48 hours.

The new team is due to replace the one led by Michel Barnier, who resigned last week after far-right and leftist lawmakers voted to topple his government, plunging France into its second major political crisis in six months.

Macron will try to nominate a unifying figure, although media reports say there is no clear frontrunner.

Centre-right politician François Bayrou, 73, has been mentioned most often by political commentators after Macron consulted with all parties except the extreme left and right to try to form the broadest possible government.

If Bayrou is chosen, it remains to be seen whether the Macron ally will be able to form a majority capable of governing, and there are expectations he could face a similar fate to former Brexit negotiator Barnier.

Former Socialist prime minister Bernard Cazeneuve has also been mooted in the press, as well as former defence minister Sébastien Lecornu and former decentralisation minister Catherine Vautrin.

Last Wednesday, the opposition brought down Barnier after he had only been in office for three months in a dispute over an austerity budget.

Macron is under pressure due to the fall of the government after he called snap elections this year which backfired.

Opposition parties have even demanded Macron resign amid the political and economic crisis, with a 2025 budget still not passed by parliament.

with DPA