Ousted Prime Minister Michel Barnier, who was toppled in a historic no-confidence vote on Wednesday, made extraordinary calm his trademark across a half-century in politics, but goes down as the shortest-serving PM in French history.
Brought in by President Emmanuel Macron in September to run a minority government after inconclusive parliamentary elections, Barnier often said that knowing how “to keep one’s cool” was essential to managing the thorny task.
His “sang-froid” was in evidence in his previous role as the European Union’s chief negotiator in Brexit talks with the British government.
He also kept his cool in parliament on Wednesday evening, speaking just before the far right and hard left ousted his government in a historic no-confidence vote.
“I’m not afraid,” said the 73-year-old. “I’ve rarely been afraid in my political life.”
After just three months in office, Barnier will now go down in history as the shortest-serving prime minister since the Fifth Republic, the system of government in France from 1958.
Having already served as foreign minister and twice as an EU commissioner in Brussels, he is best known internationally for taking on the job of negotiating Britain’s exit from the European Union on behalf of the bloc after the 2016 referendum.
Firm and courteous in talks, and hugely respected by his team, Barnier won considerable kudos for his handling of the process.
Barnier, who hails from the Haute Savoie region of the Alps, first become a member of France’s parliament aged just 27 in the 1970s, and entered government in the mid-1990s under the then-president, the late Jacques Chirac.
‘Not a fun guy’
He often points to his alpine origins when explaining his “methodical” approach to work, freely admits that he is “not a fun guy” and has little time for the “bluster” of younger colleagues in the Paris-centric world of politics.
When he replaced Gabriel Attal, 35, in September, Barnier became the oldest prime minister in modern French history, at more than twice the age of his predecessor, the youngest.
Some have called him the “French Joe Biden”, after the US leader whose long career has spanned a similar timeframe.
Barnier has said that he accepted the thankless task of becoming prime minister as “an honour”, but also made clear that he had no desire to hold on to the job at all costs.
‘Couldn’t care less’
On the eve of the no-confidence votes, he made clear how little attraction the corridors of power still hold for him.
“I am proud to serve, very honoured to be prime minister,” he said in a prime-time television interview on Tuesday from his elegant office.
“But the gold decorations all around us, the official limousines and all the trappings of power of the republic? I couldn’t care less about those,” he said.
Asked about the no-confidence motion, he said: “I’m ready.”
One of his ministers, who declined to be named, said Barnier is “an incarnation of stability”, but a deputy who served under the previous administration called him a “huge disappointment” and “old-fashioned”.
Barnier wrote a book about Brexit, “My Secret Brexit Diary: A Glorious Illusion”, its title already stating clearly what he thought of the idea of the United Kingdom leaving the European Union.
‘With dignity’
Barnier steered clear of any salacious gossip in the published work, but expressed his amazement at how his British counterparts were handling the process.
“They have not realised the consequences of what is truly at stake here,” he wrote.
Barnier had largely vanished from the French political scene after missing out on the nomination from The Republicans (LR) party to challenge Macron in the 2022 presidential election.
Barnier said he wanted to be remembered as “an honest man, a patriot and a European, who is serving his country with dignity”.
