Macron meets centrist Bayrou ahead of imminent decision on next French PM
· BBC NewsPaul Kirby
Europe digital editor
President Emmanuel Macron met centrist leader François Bayrou on Friday as speculation mounted over who he would choose as PM, in a bid to end months of political turmoil.
It is now nine days since French MPs ousted Michel Barnier as prime minister in a no-confidence vote, and Macron had said a replacement would be appointed by the end of Thursday.
Bayrou has widely been seen as a potential successor. A Macron ally, he is a mayor from the southwest and leader of the centrist MoDem party.
French politics has been deadlocked ever since Macron called snap parliamentary elections during the summer, and when he does name a new prime minister, it will be his fourth this year.
An opinion poll for BFMTV on Thursday suggested 61% of French voters were worried by the political situation.
Macron cut short a trip to Poland on Thursday and had been expected to name his new prime minister last night, but he then postponed his announcement until Friday morning.
He then met Bayrou, 73, at the Elysée Palace for about an hour and three-quarters. A red carpet was seen being prepared at the prime minister's residence at Hôtel Matignon, however there was no immediate confirmation it was for Bayrou.
Macron has vowed to remain in office until his second term ends in 2027, despite Barnier's downfall last week.
If he does pick Bayrou, the challenge will then become forming a government that will not be brought down the way Barnier's was in the National Assembly.
It is thought he will either seek to bring parties from the centre left into the government, or agree a pact so they do not oust the next prime minister as well.
Macron has already held round-table talks with leaders from all the main political parties, bar the far-left France Unbowed (LFI) of Jean-Luc Mélenchon and far-right National Rally of Marine Le Pen.
Among the other favourites to replace Michel Barnier, who lasted only three months as prime minister, were Defence Minister Sebastien Lecornu and centre-left ex-prime minister Bernard Cazeneuve.
French media quoted another potential candidate, former foreign minister Jean-Yves Le Drian, as saying he had turned down the job because he was in his late 70s.
Former Brexit negotiator Barnier was voted out when Le Pen's National Rally joined left-wing MPs in rejecting his plans for €60bn (£50bn) in tax rises and spending cuts. He was seeking to cut France's budget deficit, which is set to hit 6.1% of economic output (GDP) this year.
Under the political system of France's Fifth Republic, the president is elected for five years and then appoints a prime minister whose choice of cabinet is then appointed by the president.
Unusually, President Macron called snap elections for parliament over the summer after poor results in the EU elections in June. The outcome left France in political stalemate, with three large political blocs made up of the left, centre and far right.
Eventually he chose Barnier to form a minority government reliant on Marine Le Pen's National Rally for its survival. But now that has fallen, Macron is hoping to restore stability without depending on her party.
Three centre-left parties - the Socialists, Greens and Communists - have broken ranks with the more radical left LFI and have taken part in talks on forming a new government.
However, they have made clear they want to see a leftist prime minister of their choice if they are going to join a broad-based government.
"I told you I wanted someone from the left and the Greens and I think Mr Bayrou isn't one or the other," Greens leader Marine Tondelier told French TV on Thursday, adding that she did not see how the centrist camp that lost parliamentary elections could hold the post of prime minister and maintain the same policies.
Relations between the centre left and the radical LFI of Jean-Luc Mélenchon appear to have broken down over the three parties' decision to pursue talks with President Macron.
After the LFI leader called on his former allies to steer clear of a coalition deal, Olivier Faure of the Socialists told French TV that "the more Mélenchon shouts the less he's heard".
Meanwhile, Marine Le Pen has called for her party's policies on the cost of living to be taken into account by the incoming government, by building a budget that "doesn't cross each party's red lines".
Michel Barnier's caretaker government has put forward a bill to enable the provisions of the 2024 budget to continue into next year. But a replacement budget for 2025 will have to be approved once the next government takes office.