Elisabeth Borne

Élisabeth Borne is a French politician who has served as Prime Minister of France since May 2022. She is a member of President Emmanuel Macron's party Renaissance.

A civil engineer, government official and manager of state enterprises in the transport and construction sectors, Borne previously served as minister of transport (2017–2019) and minister of ecology (2019–2020). She was then minister of labour, employment and integration in the Castex government from 2020 to 2022. On 16 May 2022, President Macron appointed her as the next prime minister after Castex's resignation, as it is the tradition following the presidential elections in France. Borne is the second woman to hold the position after Édith Cresson, who served from 1991 to 1992.

Borne led the centrist Ensemble coalition into the 2022 legislative election which resulted in a hung parliament: enjoying a 115-seat majority before the election, the ruling coalition was reduced to 251 seats (from 346), still emerging as the largest bloc in Parliament but 38 short of a majority. Unable to broker any deal with opposition parties to form a stable majority administration, Borne officially formed a minority government in July 2022.

Notably, as prime minister, she oversaw the contentious passage of a pension system reform raising the retirement age from 62 to 64, the repealing of most of the Covid-era health restrictions and the passage of a multi-year military planning law, paving way for a 40%-increase in military spending between 2024 and 2030. She also led the government's financial response to the ongoing cost-of-living crisis.

In July 2023, holding onto her position as PM amid media reports of a possible dismissal, Borne reshuffled her cabinet for the second time since the beginning of her Premiership.

Political career :

For a long time Borne was close to the Socialist Party (PS), but without formally joining the party. After Emmanuel Macron's victory in the 2017 French presidential election, she joined La République En Marche! (LREM).

Borne served as minister-delegate of transport in the first and second Philippe governments from May 2017 to July 2019. During her time in office, she held out against weeks of strikes and demonstrations in 2017 to end a generous pension and benefits system for SNCF railway workers. After the resignation of ecology minister François de Rugy in 2019, Borne was promoted to head the ministry of the ecological and inclusive transition. In that capacity, she led efforts to pass a long-term energy planning bill aimed at increasing security of supply and a clean mobility bill committing the country to reaching carbon neutrality in the transport sector by 2050. 

In 2019, Borne opposed France's ratification of the European Union–Mercosur free trade agreement.

Since 2020 Borne has additionally been a member of Territories of Progress, a centre-left party allied with LREM. In September 2022, both parties merged into the Renaissance party.

Prime Minister, 2022–present :

On 16 May 2022, Borne was appointed Prime Minister of France, succeeding Castex three weeks after the re-election of Macron for a second term as President of the French Republic. After Édith Cresson in 1991–1992, she is the second woman only to hold the position. She is also the second of Macron's prime ministers to be a member of his centrist party, after Castex.

Borne was a candidate for Renaissance (formerly known as La République En Marche!) in the 2022 French legislative election in Calvados's 6th constituency in the Normandy region in northwestern France. While remaining a candidate, under the dual mandate (cumuls des mandats) law she was not allowed to take up the position after she won the election, and was replaced by her designated alternate. She called on voters to support Macron's coalition, Ensemble Citoyens, saying it is the only group "capable of getting [a parliamentary] majority". After the first round, in relation to contests between left-wing and far-right candidates, she said: "Our position is no voice for the RN." At the same time, she expressed support only for left-wing candidates who in her view respect republican values. She was elected to Parliament in the second round. Borne offered her resignation as prime minister after the results of the second round, but was rejected by Macron, who instead tasked her to form a new cabinet. 

Following a cabinet reshuffle prompted by the 2022 legislative elections that resulted in a hung parliament,[34] Borne officially formed a minority government and easily survived a motion of no confidence triggered by MPs of the New Ecologic and Social People's Union (NUPES), a broad alliance of left-wing opponents, in response to the Government's refusal to call for a vote of confidence.In March 2023, Borne survived by nine votes another motion of no confidence brought against her in response to President Macron's passage of a law that raised the retirement age from 62 to 64 without a vote of the National Assembly.

On 12 April 2023, Borne condemned LDH for speaking out against police brutality, particularly during a protest in the village of Sainte-Soline in western France. 

In May 2023, reports began circulating that Borne's government had withdrew support for France hosting the 2025 Rugby League World Cup with her government demanding protection from financial loses if the tournament did not run at a profit. With the French organising committee unable to meet this new demand, France officially withdrew as tournament hosts on 15 May citing lack of governmental financial support as the reason.

In July 2023, the government reshuffle was described as "strange".