Gabriel Attal is working on the composition of his government which promises to be “tightened”, an objective reiterated but not necessarily achieved throughout the Fifth Republic.
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The future Attal government could be made up of around fifteen ministers, according to information from franceinfo. A new team, which the executive wants to be smaller, on which the new Prime Minister is working. There have already been promises of “tight” governments, but what has really happened?
In terms of political communication, announcing a light team is a way of saying: “look: I’m saving money I’m ‘slender’ and I’m ‘fast'”. And since the beginning of the Fifth Republic, this has happened several times. In May 2007, Nicolas Sarkozy appointed François Fillon Prime Minister at the head of a “light” government: with only 15 ministers and 5 secretaries of state, a record under the Fifth Republic. But this record did not last since a month later, once the legislative elections had passed, the “Fillon 2” government gained weight. He keeps the same number of ministers but sees the arrival of 11 additional secretaries of state.
So-called tight governments then relax the belt
Again in 2017, the first government of Édouard Philippe, just after the election of Emmanuel Macron, had only 22 members. But a month after the legislative elections and the tidal wave of the presidential party, it increased to 29 members. Here again, it is the secretaries of state who increase the numbers. In 2014, Francois Hollande replaced Jean-Marc Ayrault with Manuel Valls at Matignon and declared: “I have entrusted Manuel Valls with the mission of leading the government of France, it will be a tight team.”
“A fighting government.”
Francois Hollandein 2014
The government of Manuel Valls is relatively tight in practice, with 30 members. With 16 ministers and 14 secretaries of state, the Valls 1 government, between April and August 2014, ranks within the reasonable average. The Valls 2 government, from August 2014 to December 2016, increased to 38 members. Before that, Lionel Jospin, Prime Minister of Jacques Chirac between 1997 and 2002, had a government of around thirty members.
The governments of the early Fifth Republic were accustomed to leanness. In November 1962, the second government of Georges Pompidou had 25 members, 20 ministers and 5 secretaries of state. As for the very first Prime Minister of the Fifth Republic, Michel Debré in 1958, his team included 26 members. Conversely, the record for the most “loose” government is held by that of Michel Rocard in 1988 with 49 members, including 32 ministers.