Edouard Philippe named new French PM

Conservative Philippe appointed new French PM

The two met in Berlin on Mr Macron’s first full day in office, which started with his naming 46-year-old politician Edouard Philippe as his new prime minister.

The appointment of Mr Philippe to the top job in France’s Government ticked several boxes for Mr Macron — France’s youngest president at 39 years old — who took power on Sunday.

Mr Philippe’s age reinforced the generational shift in France’s corridors of power and the image of youthful vigour that Mr Macron is cultivating.

Who is Emmanuel Macron?

The stylish former investment banker and political newcomer has shocked pundits in one of the most extraordinary campaigns in modern memory.

Mr Philippe, a lawyer and the mayor of Normandy port of Le Havre, is also relatively unknown to voters, fulfilling Mr Macron’s campaign promise to repopulate French politics with new faces.

“I told myself that the situation we [France] were in was so unique that we should try something that had never been tried before,” Mr Philippe said on why he accepted the role.

His appointment marks a milestone in the rebuilding of France’s political landscape, which has been dynamited by the election of Mr Macron — the first president of modern France not from the country’s mainstream left or right parties.

Mr Philippe is a member of the mainstream-right Republicans party and could possibly attract other Republicans to Mr Macron’s cause, as the centrist president works to piece together a majority in parliament to pass his promised economic reforms.

In Berlin, Mr Macron declined to answer a question about his new prime minister, only saying the choice of Mr Philippe was part of the new political landscape he was promoting.

Source: Emmanuel Macron, Angela Merkel agree to work towards ‘road map’ of reforms for European Union – ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)