Macron names premier

FRANCOIS BAYROU: CENTRIST HAS TO HAUL FRANCE OUT OF POLITICAL CRISIS

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President Emmanuel Macron yesterday named centrist leader Francois Bayrou as prime minister, handing him the daunting task of hauling France out of months of political crisis.

Bayrou, the 73-year-old head of the MoDem group which is allied to Macron's party, was appointed nine days after Michel Barnier's government was ousted by parliament in a historic no-confidence vote following a standoff over an austerity budget.

"The president of the republic has appointed Mr Francois Bayrou as prime minister and tasked him with forming a government," the French presidency said.

Bayrou is the sixth prime minister of Macron's mandate after last week's toppling of Barnier, who became France's shortest-serving prime minister and lasted only three months.

He is also Macron's fourth prime minister of this year.