PARIS (AP) — President Emmanuel Macron named Michel Barnier as France’s new prime minister Thursday, hoping the Brexit negotiator and veteran conservative can work with France’s bitterly divided legislature to end political turmoil that has roiled Macron’s presidency.
At 73, Barnier is the oldest of the 26 prime ministers that have served modern France’s Fifth Republic. He replaces the youngest, Gabriel Attal, who was 34 when he was appointed just eight months ago.
Attal was also France’s first openly gay prime minister. French media and some of Macron’s political opponents who immediately criticized Barnier’s appointment quickly dug up that, when serving in parliament in 1981, the new prime minister had been among 155 lawmakers who voted against a law that decriminalized homosexuality.
Barnier’s appointment ends more than 50 days of caretaker government in France but offers no guarantee of a return to political calm….