Bayrou Meets Le Pen in Effort to Form New French Government
- New premier faces budget pressure after Moody’s cuts rating
- Socialists also scheduled to meet with Bayrou early this week
France’s new Prime Minister Francois Bayrou is meeting with far-right leader Marine Le Pen on Monday, kicking off an effort to form a government that can push a budget through a divided Parliament.
Le Pen and Jordan Bardella, the head of her National Rally party, will meet at 9 a.m. with Bayrou, a party spokesman said. They’re the first of the political groupings in Parliament to be consulted by Bayrou, named Friday by President Emmanuel Macron after the previous government of Michel Barnier fell in a no-confidence vote backed by Le Pen.