As President Emmanuel Macron began a new round of consultations to find a new prime minister on the morning of Monday, September 2, meeting with former Socialist prime minister Bernard Cazeneuve and President of the Hauts-de-France region Xavier Bertrand, several sources mentioned the possibility of him appointing Thierry Beaudet, president of the Economic, Social and Environmental Council (CESE).

Should this prove to be the case, Macron, who has believed since the results emerged from the second round of legislative elections on July 7 that no one won or lost, and has concluded that the political parties have not been able to bring about a coalition since then, would therefore be choosing someone from civil society instead of a politician. Beaudet, former president of a federation of non-profit health insurance companies and with experience working alongside business leaders and labor unions, chairs the consultative body that hosted the two citizens' conventions (on climate and assisted dying) initiated by the French president. Trained as a primary school teacher and close to the left, he took a stand in June in La Tribune against the far-right Rassemblement National.

Le Monde has learned that the Elysée Palace has already found a chief of staff for the next prime minister: Bertrand Gaume, 49, prefect of the Nord department. Gaume, a senior civil servant with a meteoric career, has also worked for the French General Directorate for External Services (DGSE). He had already been approached in July 2023 to replace Aurélien Rousseau as then prime minister Elisabeth Borne's chief of staff. Born into an established family from Arcachon, southwest France, Gaume is also one of the best friends of former Socialist presidential candidate Benoît Hamon, having worked as his chief of staff in 2012 at the Ministry of Social Economy and Solidarity. In that position, he would have undoubtedly crossed paths with Beaudet, then the head of a health insurance company for education workers. Contacted by Le Monde, the Elysée did not confirm these names were being considered.