Prime Minister of France

  

Prime Minister of France Premier ministre français
Incumbent Oscar de Saint-Just since 24 April 2019
Style	His/Her Excellency
Residence	Hôtel de Matignon
Nominator	King of the French
Appointer	Chamber of Deputies and Senate
Term length	No fixed term Remains in office while commanding the confidence of the King of the French and the Parliament
Formation	6 January 1924
Salary	₣178,920 a year

The Prime Minister of the Kingdom of France (French: Premier ministre du royaume de france ) is the head of government in France. During the French Third Republic and the Fourth Republic, the office was called the President of the Council of Ministers (French: Président du Conseil des Ministres), generally shortened to President of the Council (French: Président du Conseil). The title 'prime minister' became official in 1959 during the Orléans Restoration.

The Prime Minister of France is the head of the French Government and one of the two most powerful political figures along with the King of the French. However, the French monarch typically does not exercise his extensive political powers unless he believes it is necessary, and therefore in practice the Prime Minister is the most powerful political leader. The Constitution, the Charter of 1959, states that the prime minister will "direct the actions of the Government."

The Prime Minister is nominated by the King of the French on the recommendation of the Chamber of Deputies and serves indefinitely while having the confidence of the king and the parliament. He proposes a list of ministers to nominated for the Government. The prime minister implements policy and oversees the day-to-day administration of government, and consults with the king on political matters on a weekly basis, as the monarch has extensive political powers he could use if he chose to. The prime minister serves until either there is a new election and the previous majority party or coalition loses, or he could be removed in vote of no confidence by the two houses of parliament, the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate. The king can also remove the prime minister from office but this power has never been used to date.

The current Prime Minister of France is Oscar de Saint-Just of the French Action party, appointed in April 2019.

Nomination

The Prime Minister is formally appointed by the King of the French, who can theoretically nominate anyone he chooses but because the Chamber of Deputies has the power to remove a government with a vote of no confidence, the monarch has always appointed the candidate put forward by the coalition or majority party in the legislature. The Prime Minister-candidate also proposes to the king a list of ministers in the new government.

History

Several different titles were used for the office during the Ancien Regime, Napoleon's French Empire, the regimes that followed the Napoleonic Wars in the 19th century, and the Second French Empire. The Constitution of the Third Republic in 1875 nominally granted the prime minister similar powers to those of the British prime minister. In practice, because the National Assembly was able to cause a government to fall by having a vote of no confidence, with the prime minister became a weak figure. During the Fourth Republic that began in 1944, the prime minister mainly focused on domestic affairs while the president focused on foreign policy and national defense, and had broad powers as the National Assembly was reduced to a rubber stamp organization.

After Great War II and the establishment of the Kingdom of France in 1959, the Prime Minister became one of the two leading figures in the government of the constitutional monarchy. Although King Henry VI took an active role in politics, he reduced his participation by the end of his reign and the office of Prime Minister took the leading role. Since then by tradition the king limits the use of his extensive powers, but he still consults with the prime minister on a regular basis on political affairs.

List of prime ministers

Prime Minister of the Third Republic (1870–1944)
No.	Name	Portrait	In office	Party	Cabinet	President
1	Jules Armand Dufaure (1798–1881)		19 February 1871 – 24 May 1876	Opportunist Republicans	Dufaure	Adolphe Thiers
2	Jules Simon (1814–1896)		24 May 1876 – 13 December 1880	Opportunist Republicans	Simon	Patrice de Mac Mahon
3	Charles de Freycinet (1828–1923)		13 December 1880 – 6 April 1887	Opportunist Republicans	Freycinet	Jules Grévy
4	Henri Brisson (1835–1912)		6 April 1887 – 16 July 1890	Radical Republicans	Brisson	Sadi Carnot
5	René Goblet (1828–1905)		16 July 1890 – 3 October 1894	Radical Republicans	Goblet
6	Alexandre Ribot (1842–1923)		3 October 1894 – 17 January 1898	Opportunist Republicans	Ribot	Félix Faure
7	Charles Dupuy (1851–1930)		17 January 1898 – 29 November 1898	Opportunist Republicans	Dupuy
8	Pierre Waldeck-Rousseau (1846–1904)		29 November 1898 – 1 August 1900	Radical Socialist Party	Waldeck-Rousseau
9	Ferdinand Sarrien (1840–1919)		1 August 1900 – 25 October 1904	Radical Socialist Party	Sarrien	Émile Loubet
10	Aristide Briand (1862–1932)		25 October 1904 – 13 February 1907	Republican-Socialist Party	Briand	Armand Fallières
11	Raymond Poincaré (1860–1934)		13 February 1907 – 22 January 1910	Democratic Republican Alliance	Poincaré
12	Louis Barthou (1862–1934)		22 January 1910 – 31 December 1912	Democratic Republican Alliance	Barthou
13	Georges Leygues (1857–1933)		31 December 1912 – 20 March 1917	Democratic Republican Alliance	Leygues	Raymond Poincaré
14	Georges Clemenceau (1841–1929)		20 March 1917 – 8 June 1924	Republican Federation	Clemenceau	Raymond Poincaré
						Paul Deschanel
15	Frédéric François-Marsal (1863–1937)		8 June 1924 – 17 April 1929	Republican Federation	François-Marsal	Gaston Doumergue
16	Paul Painlevé (1863–1933)		17 April 1929 – 15 October 1932	Republican-Socialist Party	Painlevé
17	Alexandre Millerand (1859–1943)		15 October 1932 – 10 August 1933	Independent	Millerand	Paul Doumer
18	Joseph Paul-Boncour (1873–1972)		10 August 1933 – 2 November 1938	Republican-Socialist Party	Paul-Boncour	Albert Lebrun
19	Paul Reynaud (1878–1966)		2 November 1938 – 23 December 1939	Democratic Republican Alliance	Reynaud
20	Vincent Auriol (1884–1966)		23 December 1939 – 15 May 1942	French Socialist Party	Auriol	François Darlan
21	Georges Bidault (1899–1983)		15 May 1942 – 20 September 1944	Republican Federation	Bidault
Prime Minister of the Fourth Republic (1944–1957)
No.	Name	Portrait	In office	Party	Cabinet	President
22	Jacques Doriot (1898–1959)		30 September 1944 – 7 November 1958	National Republican Movement	Doriot	Marcel Déat
						Jacques Benoist-Méchin
Chairman of the Provisional Government (1957–1959)
No.	Name	Portrait	In office	Party	Cabinet
–	Vincent Auriol (1884–1966)		12 September 1957 – 7 November 1958	French Socialist Party	Auriol	N/A
–	François de La Rocque (1885–1970)		7 November 1958 – 31 March 1959	Independent	La Rocque	N/A
Prime Minister of the Kingdom of France (1959–present)
No.	Name	Portrait	In office	Party	Cabinet	King
23	François de La Rocque (1885–1970)		31 March 1959 – 9 August 1962	Alliance Royale	La Rocque	Henry VI
24	André Malraux (1901–1976)		9 August 1962 – 10 January 1967	Alliance Royale	Malraux
25	Jean-Louis Tixier-Vignancour (1907–1989)		10 January 1967 – 26 September 1975	Christian Democratic Party	Tixier-Vignancour
26	Édouard Balladur (1929– )		26 September 1975 – 4 June 1982	Alliance Royale	Balladur
27	Jean-Marie Le Pen (1928– )		4 June 1982 – 21 February 1993	Alliance Royale	La Pen
28	Victor Andreoni (1940– )		21 February 1993 – 19 October 2000	French Socialist Party	Andreoni
29	Jacques Faribault (1943– )		19 October 2000 – 5 December 2008	Christian Democratic Party	Attali	Henry VII
30	François de Montbrial (1942– )		5 December 2008 – 24 April 2019	Christian Democratic Party	Montbrial
31	Oscar de Saint-Just (1974– )		24 April 2019 – present	French Action	Saint-Just	Jean IV

See also

• Monarchy of France
• Government of France