François Bayrou facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
François Bayrou
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Bayrou in 2025
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| Prime Minister of France | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Assumed office 13 December 2024 |
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| President | Emmanuel Macron | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Preceded by | Michel Barnier | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Minister of Justice | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| In office 17 May 2017 – 19 June 2017 |
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| Prime Minister | Édouard Philippe | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Preceded by | Jean-Jacques Urvoas | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Succeeded by | Nicole Belloubet | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Minister of National Education | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| In office 29 March 1993 – 4 June 1997 |
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| Prime Minister | Édouard Balladur Alain Juppé |
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| Preceded by | Jack Lang | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Succeeded by | Claude Allègre | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Mayor of Pau | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Assumed office 4 April 2014 |
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| Preceded by | Martine Lignières-Cassou | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| President of the Democratic Movement | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Assumed office 2 December 2007 |
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| Preceded by | Position established | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| President of the European Democratic Party | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Assumed office 13 July 2004 |
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| Preceded by | Position established | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| President of the Union for French Democracy | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| In office 25 February 1998 – 30 November 2007 |
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| Preceded by | François Léotard | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Succeeded by | Position abolished | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Personal details | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born |
François René Jean Lucien Bayrou
25 May 1951 Bordères, France |
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| Political party | MoDem (since 2007) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Other political affiliations |
CD (until 1976) CDS (1976–1995) FD (1995–1998) UDF (1978–2007) |
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| Spouse |
Élisabeth Perlant
(m. 1971) |
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| Children | 6 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Residences | Hôtel Matignon, Paris | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Alma mater | University Bordeaux Montaigne | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Signature |  |
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François Bayrou (born 25 May 1951) is a French politician. He has been the Prime Minister of France since December 2024. He also leads the European Democratic Party (EDP) since 2004 and the Democratic Movement (MoDem) since 2007. Bayrou is known as a centrist politician. He ran for president in 2002, 2007, and 2012.
From 1993 to 1997, Bayrou served as Minister of National Education. He was also a member of the National Assembly for Pyrénées-Atlantiques from 1986 to 2012. He was a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) from 1999 to 2002. Since 2014, he has been the mayor of Pau.
In 2017, Bayrou chose not to run for president. Instead, he supported Emmanuel Macron. After Macron won, he appointed Bayrou as Minister of State for Justice. Bayrou resigned in June 2017 due to an investigation into how his party used money for staff. He was cleared of these accusations in 2024.
On 13 December 2024, President Emmanuel Macron appointed Bayrou as Prime Minister. This happened after Michel Barnier's government was brought down by a no-confidence vote.
Early Life and Education
François Bayrou was born on 25 May 1951 in Bordères, a village in France. His father, Calixte Bayrou, was a farmer and mayor of Bordères. His mother was Emma Sarthou. Bayrou's family mostly came from the Occitans, except for his maternal grandmother, who was Irish.
When he was young, Bayrou had a stutter. He went to speech therapy for seven years to help with it. He attended secondary school in Pau and then Bordeaux. He studied literature at university. At 23, he passed the "agrégation" exam. This is a high-level teaching qualification in France. Around this time, his father died in a farming accident.
Bayrou married Élisabeth Perlant in 1971. They have six children: Hélène, Marie, Dominique, Calixte, and Agnès. The family lived on the farm where Bayrou was born. He still lives there with his wife.
Before becoming a politician, Bayrou taught history in Béarn, a region in the French Pyrenees. He has written several books about politics and history. One of his books is about King Henry IV of France. Bayrou enjoys raising horses as a hobby. He is a Roman Catholic but strongly supports France's system of secularism.
Political Journey
First Steps in Politics: 1982–2002
In his youth, Bayrou was involved in nonviolent movements. He followed the teachings of Mahatma Gandhi's disciple, Lanza del Vasto.
Bayrou became a member of the Centre of Social Democrats (CDS). This was a Christian-democratic part of the Union for French Democracy (UDF). In 1982, he was elected to the General Council of the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department. Four years later, he was elected to the French National Assembly.
After his political group won the 1993 election, Bayrou became the Education Minister. He proposed a reform that would allow local governments to help fund private schools. This led to large protests and was stopped by the Constitutional Council.
In 1989, Bayrou and other politicians called for changes in their parties. They wanted to unite the UDF and the RPR into one new right-wing party. Later, in 1991, he became the UDF general secretary.
Bayrou continued as Education Minister after the 1995 presidential election. He returned to opposition in 1997. In 1998, he became president of the UDF. He changed it from a group of smaller parties into one unified party.
Centrist Position of the UDF: 2002–2007
In 2002, François Bayrou did not agree to merge the UDF with another party, the RPR. This new group later became the Union for a Popular Movement (UMP). Because of this, many UDF members left to join the UMP.
Bayrou often criticized the UMP-led government. He felt they were out of touch with ordinary French people. He spoke out against the idea of a two-party system. In this system, only two main parties take turns governing. Bayrou wanted a system where other parties could also play a role.
In 2006, Bayrou supported a motion of no confidence. This motion asked for the Prime Minister's government to resign. The motion failed because the Prime Minister's party had a majority. After this, France's television authority classified Bayrou as part of the opposition. However, Bayrou protested, and he was then classified as belonging to neither the majority nor the opposition.
Second Presidential Campaign: 2007
Bayrou ran for president again in 2007. Many people expected the election to be a contest between Nicolas Sarkozy and Ségolène Royal. However, Bayrou's support grew in the polls. This made the election more unpredictable.
In the end, Bayrou finished third with 18.57% of the vote. This was the best result for the UDF in a presidential election since 1981. Bayrou said he could not support either Sarkozy or Royal in the second round. However, he suggested that Sarkozy was the less favorable choice.
Founding the Democratic Movement: 2007–2012
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After the 2007 election, Bayrou decided to create a new centrist party. This party was called the Democratic Movement (MoDem). Most UDF politicians did not follow him. Instead, they formed a different party, the New Centre. This party supported an alliance with the UMP. However, most of the UDF's regular members stayed with Bayrou and joined MoDem.
In the 2007 legislative elections, MoDem came third with 7.6% of the vote. Even though this was an increase from previous elections, MoDem only won four seats. Bayrou won his own seat. The creation of MoDem officially ended the UDF alliance on 30 November.
Third Presidential Election: 2012
On 18 August 2011, Bayrou released a book called 2012. Etat d'urgence. In the book, he discussed the 2008 financial crisis. He also outlined his main goals for his next presidential campaign. These goals included improving production and education.
François Bayrou officially announced his candidacy for the 2012 presidential election on 25 November 2011. He made the announcement during a TV interview.
Bayrou was eliminated in the first round of the election. He received about half the votes he had in 2007. He then supported the Socialist candidate, François Hollande, in the final round.
2017 Presidential Election
On 22 February 2017, Bayrou announced he would not run in the 2017 presidential election. Instead, he supported the centrist candidate Emmanuel Macron from the En Marche! party. This alliance surprised many political experts. Part of their agreement was that Macron would support a law for clean government proposed by Bayrou. Bayrou said that France was "at extreme risk" and needed an "exceptional response." He also clarified that MoDem would not be taken over by En Marche!.
Minister of Justice (2017)
On 17 May 2017, Bayrou was appointed as Minister of Justice. This was part of the first government led by Édouard Philippe.
A newspaper reported information that a politician from the Democratic Movement had been paid for work she might not have done. This involved Bayrou in a scandal about how staff were paid. Another report claimed that MoDem had "over a dozen" similar issues in the European Parliament.
Bayrou resigned just 35 days after taking the job. This happened a few days before the 2017 legislative election. He was found not guilty of these accusations in February 2024.
Later Career
In September 2020, Prime Minister Jean Castex appointed Bayrou as high commissioner for planning.
In February 2022, Bayrou created a "sponsorship bank." This was joined by local officials who were willing to give their signatures to presidential candidates. This helped candidates who struggled to get enough signatures, even if they were popular in polls.
After Gabriel Attal became Prime Minister in January 2024, Bayrou stated he would not join the government. Many had expected him to return to the cabinet after he was cleared of fraud charges.
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Prime Minister (since 2024)
On 13 December 2024, Bayrou was appointed as Prime Minister by Emmanuel Macron. This happened after a no-confidence vote ended Michel Barnier's government. Before his nomination, Macron reportedly told Bayrou he would not nominate him. However, he changed his mind when Bayrou threatened to withdraw his support.
Despite becoming Prime Minister, Bayrou has promised to remain Mayor of Pau. This is similar to Jacques Chirac, who was both Prime Minister and Mayor of Paris from 1986 to 1988. Less than a week after his appointment, Bayrou faced criticism. He flew to Pau on a presidential jet to attend a city council meeting. Critics said he should have visited Mayotte, which was badly affected by Cyclone Chido.
Bayrou's government was finalized on 23 December. This met his goal of appointing ministers before Christmas. On 30 December 2024, Bayrou visited Mayotte with several government members. He announced emergency measures to rebuild the islands and help with the local crisis.
On 3 February 2025, Bayrou passed his government's budget for the year. He did this by using special constitutional powers to bypass a vote in the National Assembly. This led to two unsuccessful no-confidence motions against him on 5 February and 10 February. He survived another no-confidence motion on 2 July. This motion was filed by the Socialist Party after pension reform talks failed.
On 15 July 2025, Bayrou suggested removing Easter Monday and V-E Day as public holidays. This was part of cost-cutting plans for the proposed 2026 budget.
Political Views
Bayrou has spoken out on many issues. These include reforming the political process, protecting civil liberties, and supporting free software. During the 2007 presidential campaign, he called the European Union "the most beautiful construction of all humanity." He wanted France to play a bigger role in the European Union. He also supports approving a European Constitution. He believes it should be shorter and easier to read than the one rejected by French voters in 2005.
In a 2007 interview, Bayrou described himself as a "democrat" and a "man of the 'third way'." He sees himself as a centrist politician. His platform focuses on creating jobs and improving education. He also wants to improve conditions in troubled suburbs. Other goals include reducing government spending, balancing the budget, and strengthening the European Union. He believes France should lead the EU. He has also criticized China for protecting the Sudanese government from UN Security Council sanctions.
Bayrou was critical of the American economic model under George Bush. He also criticized the unregulated free market. He described the US economic model as a "survival of the fittest" system. He felt that money was often seen as the only motivation there. He also noted that higher education was too expensive and the middle class was shrinking. Bayrou criticized the Iraq war, calling it "the cause of chaos" in the region.
He criticized Nicolas Sarkozy's foreign policy. This included inviting Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi for a state visit to France. He also criticized the signing of military agreements with Libya.
He called for France to boycott the 2008 Summer Olympics. This was due to human rights concerns in China and political unrest in Tibet. During a rally in Paris, he said that if the situation did not improve, France should not attend the Olympic Games. He also criticized China's opposition to sanctions against Sudan over the crisis in Darfur.
Bayrou speaks Béarnese fluently. He often expresses his support for regionalism.
Images for kids
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François Bayrou's signature
See also
In Spanish: François Bayrou para niños
