(CNN) May 15, 2017 – French President Emmanuel Macron has named a prime minister from the ranks of a center-right party outside his own movement, in an attempt to broaden his appeal to rightwing voters ahead of legislative elections next month.
Edouard Philippe, the 46-year-old Mayor of Le Havre, is a member of the Les Républicains party and is close to Alain Juppé, the former Prime Minister who endorsed Macron after he won the first round of the presidential election.
At a press conference following the announcement Monday, Philippe thanked his predecessor, the Socialist Bernard Cazeneuve, and said: “You said you were a left-wing man, I have never doubted that. I am a right-wing man, you will not be surprised. Yet, we do respect each other and both know as you do that the general interest has to come first.”
The choice of Philippe — widely predicted by political pundits — indicates Macron’s desire to draw support from the conservative opposition and create balance, according to Emmanuelle Schön-Quinlivan, lecturer in European politics at University College, Cork, in Ireland.