The Borne government (French: gouvernement Borne) was the forty-third government of the French Fifth Republic, formed on 16 May 2022 and headed by Élisabeth Borne as Prime Minister under President Emmanuel Macron. It served as a caretaker government in early January 2024, before Gabriel Attal was appointed prime minister by Macron.
Despite its minority status as a result of the June 2022 legislative election, the Borne government had survived multiple votes of no confidence in the National Assembly: one in July 2022 after Macron's refusal to accept the government's resignation, three in October 2022 in response to the use of constitutional article 49.3 by the government to pass a social security bill, and two in March 2023, again in response of the use of article 49.3 to pass a pension reform bill. All of them were thanks to the abstentions of MPs from The Republicans.
The Borne government was reshuffled twice, first in July 2022, second in July 2023.
It was the first French government not to formally resign after a legislative election since Georges Clemenceau's second ministry in 1919.
Amid a major political crisis, the government was dissolved following Borne's resignation in January 2024 and was succeeded by the Attal government.
History Formation On 16 May 2022, more than three weeks after the presidential election and 9 days after the second inauguration of Emmanuel Macron, Jean Castex tendered the resignation of his government to the President of the Republic. The same day, the Élysée Palace informed the press that Élisabeth Borne, incumbent Minister of Labour, Employment and Economic Inclusion, would replace him and form a new government, the fourth since the election of Macron.
Elisabeth Borne became the second female Prime minister of France, after Edith Cresson between 1991 and 1992.
June 2022 legislative election
Just about a month into its tenure, the Borne government fought the 2022 French legislative elections on the 12 and 19 June. Throughout the campaign, the government faced several political controversies such as rape accusations against newly appointed Minister for Solidarity Damien Abad and the 2022 UEFA Champions League final chaos and its handling that drew widespread criticism at home and abroad.
In the first round, Macron's Ensemble coalition finished 1st, but almost tied with the left-wing NUPES coalition in the popular vote (25.8% vs. 25.7%). The National Rally (RN) came in third, with 18.7% of the votes. When compared with the 2017 legislative election's results, it represented a sharp decline from the 32.3% of votes Macron's coalition had attracted 5 years earlier. Nonetheless, the governing coalition was projected to retain its absolute majority, though by a razor-thin margin, in the second round by most pollsters.
In the second round, the Borne government unexpectedly lost its parliamentary majority and the legislative election resulted in a hung parliament for the first time since 1988. The government, which enjoyed a 115-seat majority before the election, now fell 38 seats short of an overall majority, making it the weakest government in the history of the Fifth Republic. Additionally, two senior ministers and one junior minister lost their seats in the parliamentary elections and therefore had to resign: Brigitte Bourguignon (Health), Amélie de Montchalin (Ecological Transition) and Justine Bénin (Secretary of State for the Sea).
Borne, speaking from the Hôtel Matignon, told the French: "Tonight the situation is unprecedented. Never has the National Assembly known such a configuration under the Fifth Republic. This situation poses a risk for our country given the challenges we have to face both at home and abroad".
July 2022 reshuffle
Following the failure to secure a majority in the June elections but also as a republican custom after parliamentary elections, Elisabeth Borne offered her resignation to President Macron on the 21 June, but he refused it and asked her government to remain in office. Thus, Macron broke with an old unwritten rule under which, after parliamentary elections, the Prime Minister formally resigns and is re-appointed by the President, with the task of forming a new government.
On the 21 and 22 June, Macron held talks with the leaders of parties represented in Parliament in an effort to secure a working majority either by forming a coalition government with an opposition party or by forming a national unity government. The talks failed to produce any tangible result. On 22 June, Macron addressed the nation, acknowledging there was no majority in the new Assembly and calling on the "spirit of responsibility" of all political parties.
At the end of the month, Borne in turn held talks with parliamentary leaders from the opposition in order to find common ground and break the political deadlock in sight. The talks again failed.
On 4 July, Borne officially formed a minority government and Macron reshuffled the government on her proposal: senior ministers personally defeated in June were replaced and several new junior ministers were appointed, but in general manner, there was no significant change from the government appointed in May. The same day, the Government's Spokesperson, Olivier Véran, announced that the government would not seek a vote of confidence in the lower house as it is customary (but not obligatory). This led to NUPES presenting a motion of no confidence. According to MP Bastien Lachaud, the no-confidence motion was meant to "clarify things. It concerns the method of refusing to ask for confidence. Any member of Parliament who is aware today that this is a denial of democracy can vote for this motion".
16th legislature The motion of no confidence by NUPES was defeated by a large majority on 5 July, as MPs from the right-wing opposition parties refused to associate themselves with a left-wing proposal.
Motion of no confidence NUPES Ballot → 11 July 2022 Required majority → 289 out of 577 Yes votes Abstentions or absentees (de facto against the motion since only votes in favour are counted)
The government faced again new no-confidence motions from the NUPES and the National Rally. National Rally leader Marine Le Pen surprisingly announced at the last minute that her party would vote in favour of any motion of no confidence tabled by the other parliamentary groups ″in acceptable terms″. Despite the votes of the National Rally in favour of a motion tabled by the NUPES coalition, it remained 50 votes short of a majority, due to the refusal of the right-wing Republicans (LR) to support it. The LR group justified its refusal to vote the motion of no confidence ″out of responsibility″ in order to avoid ″chaos″. The motions were thus rejected.
Motion of no confidence NUPES Ballot → 24 October 2022 Required majority → 289 out of 577 Yes votes Abstentions or absentees (de facto against the motion since only votes in favour are counted)
Motion of no confidence RN Ballot → 24 October 2022 Required majority → 289 out of 577 Yes votes Abstentions or absentees (de facto against the motion since only votes in favour are counted)
Motion of no confidence concerning the firstpart of the Social Security Finance Bill NUPES Ballot → 24 October 2022 Required majority → 289 out of 577 Yes votes Abstentions or absentees (de facto against the motion since only votes in favour are counted)
On 20 March 2023, the Borne government narrowly survived a cross-party motion of no-confidence, clinging onto office by only 9 votes (278 votes against the government, therefore failing to reach the 287-threshold required to bring it down), over the use of constitutional article 49.3 to push through the 2023 pension reform bill in the National Assembly. The motion had been introduced by the centrist LIOT and supported by NUPES, the National Rally and a minority of Republicans. A further motion of no confidence presented by the National Rally on the same day also failed.
Motion of no confidence LIOT and NUPES Ballot → 20 March 2023 Required majority → 287 out of 573 Abstentions or absentees (de facto against the motion since only votes in favour are counted) Source
Motion of no confidence RN Ballot → 20 March 2023 Required majority → 287 out of 573 Abstentions and absentees Source
On 12 June 2023, the Borne government survived its 17th motion of no-confidence since the beginning of the 16th legislature: the motion, brought forward by the left-wing NUPES coalition in response to the use of constitutional article 40 to block an opposition-sponsored amendment reintroducing the 62-year retirement age on the centrist LIOT group's opposition day, was defeated with only 239 votes, 50 votes short of the 289-threshold required to overthrow the government.
Motion of no confidence NUPES Ballot → 12 June 2023 Required majority → 289 out of 577 Yes votes Abstentions or absentees (de facto against the motion since only votes in favour are counted)
July 2023 reshuffle
In April 2023, speaking in the immediate aftermath of the contentious debates over his pension system reform, President Macron asked his government for a "hundred days of appeasement and action", citing ecology, work, social progress, justice and republican order as top priorities for the next months and told the Nation that he would assess the progress made at the end of the political period. Additionally, Macron again invited Prime Minister Borne to broaden her parliamentary support by forging "new coalitions and alliances" since her government found itself 38 shy of an overall majority in Parliament as a result of the June 2022 legislative election.
Over the 100-day period, the Borne government oversaw little legislative progress on the issues deemed as top priorities by Macron: following the difficult passage of the pension system reform, the government entered discussions with trade unions on a future Bill regarding life at work, a full employment Bill was passed by the Senate in first reading early July, the introduction of the immigration and asylum Bill was postponed amid fears of defeat in Parliament and diverse announcements related to the youth and the education system were made. Regarding the minority status of her government in legislature, Borne again failed to form a stable majority government and had to carry on her approach of working with moderate opposition parties to advance legislation, on a case-by-case basis, through Parliament.
Even though protests and street violence related to the pension reform calmed down throughout the weeks, which was deemed a success for Macron and his administration, France saw several days of race riots and widespread unrest in early summer following the killing of the 17-year-old Nahel M. during a traffic stop by the police.
Despite rumors about a potential change of prime minister, on 17 July 2023, the Élysée Palace confirmed reports that Macron had asked Borne to remain in office and invited her to make proposals for a government reshuffle.
On 20 July, the new composition of the government was announced: 8 new ministers were appointed, 3 senior ministers (Education, Health and Solidarity) and 5 junior ministers. Additionally, State Secretary to the Prime Minister Marlène Schiappa, a prominent figure of the Macron presidency since 2017, was sacked.
Initial composition On 20 May 2022, the composition of the government (excluding the Prime Minister) was announced by Alexis Kohler from the steps of the Élysée Palace. The members of the previous government remained in office to deal with current and urgent matters until the appointment of the new government, as provided for in the French Constitution.
Ministers