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On 9 January 2024, Attal was appointed by French President Emmanuel Macron to replace Élisabeth Borne as prime minister. At the age of 34, he became the youngest, first openly gay person to hold the office in France, and the youngest serving state leader in the world. A political ally of Macron, he has been described as a potential contender for the 2027 French presidential election.[a]
Attal was born on 16 March 1989 in Clamart, Île-de-France. He grew up in the 13th and 14th arrondissements (districts) of Paris with three sisters. His father, Yves Attal, was a lawyer and film producer of half Tunisian Jewish descent (on the paternal side) and half Alsatian Jewish descent (on the maternal side). Attal's mother, Marie de Couriss, was of French and Greek-Russian ancestry, and worked as an employee of a film production company.[1][2] Attal was raised in his mother's religion of Orthodox Christianity.[3]
His political activity first began when he participated in the 2006 youth protests in France.[5] Taking up a place at Sciences Po in 2007, he created a committee for the support of Íngrid Betancourt, the Franco-Colombian hostage held by the FARC.[6]
In the 2014 municipal elections, Attal was placed fifth on the Socialist Party list. He was elected as one of the four Socialist Party councilors of Vanves and took over the lead of the opposition, after the resignation of the head of the socialist list.[8]
Attal was quickly considered one of the most talented new members of parliament, with Amélie de Montchalin.[10] As a deputy of the National Assembly he became a member of the Committee on Cultural and Education Affairs, where he served as whip of the group La République En Marche!.[11]
In December 2017, Attal was appointed rapporteur on a bill on access to higher education.[12]
Attal was named chairperson of La République En Marche! in January 2018[13] and in September 2018, after the election of Richard Ferrand to the presidency of the National Assembly, he ran as a candidate to succeed him as president of the group La Républiqe En Marche!, but withdrew his candidacy the day before the election when he was considered one of the three favourites.[14] He later endorsed Roland Lescure.[15]
In July 2023, Attal was appointed minister of national education and youth in the 2023 French government reshuffle.[18] At the age of 34, he became the youngest person to hold that office under the Fifth Republic.[19] In this position, he announced the ban on abayas under the "principle of secularism," extending a ban on religious symbols in French public schools that already included Christian crosses, Jewish Kippahs and Islamic veils.[20][21]
Following Borne's resignation as prime minister on 8 January 2024, media sources announced Attal as favourite to succeed her.[22] His appointment as Prime Minister was announced on 9 January 2024. At the age of 34, he became the youngest and first openly gay person to hold the office in France.[23]
There has been speculation in the French media that Attal could be a contender in the 2027 presidential election.[24]
Attal previously lived in a civil union with Stéphane Séjourné, a member of the European Parliament for LREM.[25] The relationship had ended by 2024.[3] When they were both attending the École alsacienne, he had a relationship with singer Joyce Jonathan,[26] but Jonathan said that the relationship was merely "a joke between us" and "a playtime crush".[27]
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