Élisabeth Borne

Élisabeth Borne ([elizabɛt bɔʁn] ^ⓘ; born 18 April 1961) is a French politician who served as Prime Minister of France from May 2022 to January 2024. A member of President Emmanuel Macron's party Renaissance, she is the second woman to hold the position of Prime Minister after Édith Cresson, who served from 1991 to 1992. Since December 2024, she has served as Minister of National Education, Higher Education and Research in the Bayrou government.

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 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, Borne 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. On 8 January 2024, at Macron's request, Borne resigned as prime minister amid a major government crisis triggered by the passage of a hardline immigration bill. After leaving Matignon, she returned as an MP for her Calvados's constituency, a seat she eventually retained in the 2024 snap election. In December 2024, she returned to the cabinet as Minister of National Education, Higher Education and Research.