Meet Gabriel Attal, France's youngest & first openly gay prime minister

Gabriel Attal is set to become France's next prime minister, as Emmanuel Macron seeks to revive his presidency with a fresh government. The cabinet reshuffle is also part of Macron's efforts to give fresh impetus to his second term, especially in light of the approaching European Parliament elections later this year, The Guardian reported.

"The president of the republic appointed Mr Gabriel Attal prime minister, and tasked him with forming a government," a presidential statement released said.

Macron named the 34-year-old Education Minister as his new prime minister on Tuesday. He will be France's youngest prime minister and the first to be openly gay. The record of being France's youngest post-war prime minister was previously held by the leftist Laurent Fabius, who was 37 when Francois Mitterrand appointed him prime minister in 1984, reported the BBC.

Attal is set to succeed Elisabeth Borne, who resigned on Monday, as the new Prime Minister, according to reports.

Attal joined the Socialist Party when he was 17. A close ally of Macron, Attal is known for his prominent role as government spokesperson during the Covid-19 pandemic. Subsequently, he was appointed as a junior minister in the finance ministry and later assumed the position of education minister in 2023.

He is one of the country's most popular politicians in recent opinion polls and has earned a reputation as a savvy minister comfortable both on radio shows and in parliamentary settings.

According to DW, Attal's first move as education minister was to ban Muslim abaya dresses in state schools. This decision drew plaudits from conservatives despite his background rooted in left-wing ideology.

In 2018, during Macron's first mandate, Attal was outed by an old-school associate when he was appointed as a junior minister.

"Gabriel Attal is a bit like the Macron of 2017," MP Patrick Vignal was reported as saying by news agency Reuters, alluding to the point when the President took office as the youngest leader in modern French history and was a popular figure among voters at the time.

Attal recently appeared on a popular TV show, relating an incident from his middle school days when a former classmate bullied him. He described how he was targeted on a blog built to judge classmates' physiques during the early days of the Internet revolution.

Vignal, a member of Macron's Renaissance party who met Attal for the first time more than ten years ago, noted that the education minister "is clear, he has authority."

"The Macron-Attal duo can bring a new lease of life [to the government]," Harris Interactive pollster Jean-Daniel Levy was cited as saying by news agency Reuters.

While the transition may not necessarily lead to a significant political shift, it signifies Macron's intention to move past the unpopular pension and immigration reforms from last year. The goal is to boost his centrist party's chances in the upcoming EU elections in June.

Opinion surveys show Macron's supporters trailing far-right leader Marine Le Pen's party by eight to ten percentage points.