Gabriel Attal 34 was appointed 34 as new prime minister of France by Emmanuel Macron on Tuesday. Five things one must know about Attal are:
1. At the age of 34, Gabriel Attal has assumed the role of France’s youngest post-war prime minister, surpassing the previous record held by the leftist Laurent Fabius, who assumed the charge of prime minister at the age of 37 by Francois Mitterrand in 1984.
2. Notably, Attal holds the distinction of being France’s first openly gay prime minister, a fact that became public in 2018 when an old school associate revealed his sexual orientation upon his appointment as a junior minister during Macron’s initial mandate. During this period, Attal was in a relationship with Stephane Sejourne, who previously served as Macron’s political adviser.
3. Having affiliated himself with the Socialist Party at the age of 17, Attal gained prominence in French political circles when he assumed the position of government spokesman during the pandemic.
Subsequently, he ascended to the role of a junior minister in the finance ministry and later transitioned to become the education minister in 2023. Throughout these appointments, Attal has distinguished himself as one of Macron’s most adept cabinet ministers, earning recognition for his effective communication skills and political acumen.
As an education minister last year, Attal implemented a ban on wearing of Muslim abaya dress within state schools. This decision, although seemingly incongruent with his left-leaning political background, garnered increased support from conservative voters.
Subsequently, Attal participated in a prominent television program, where he recounted an experience from his middle school years. He detailed instances of bullying by a former classmate who, according to Attal, subjected him to public scrutiny on a blog dedicated to evaluating classmates’ physical attributes during the nascent stages of the Internet revolution.
