December 13, 2024. Marine Le Pen wandered among the Christmas market stalls in Hénin-Beaumont, northern France. With a wry smile, the far-right leader said that she believed her influence had played a role, just hours earlier, in the appointment of François Bayrou as head of government: "I think Emmanuel Macron always kept in mind that those who could prevent a vote of no confidence [against the future prime minister] were the MPs of the Rassemblement National [RN]." Once the decision was made, she reiterated her preferred choices for prime minister: "[François] Bayrou or [Sébastien] Lecornu: Both meet the RN's requirements." At the time, the far-right party wanted a more approachable figure than Michel Barnier, who served as prime minister from September to December 2024.

Nine months later, the RN, together with the left, brought down the first on Monday, September 8, before the second took over the following day. Cornered by parliamentary instability and a string of government crises, President Macron chose his most RN-compatible loyalist, who most recently served as defense minister, in the hopes of rescuing his second term. At least, he picked the one who has aroused the least amount of hostility from the far-right party in recent years. This leniency, still mentioned that very morning by a senior party official, was swept aside as soon as the Elysée's statement was released.

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