Just like his predecessor as prime minister, François Bayrou believes that the ban on simultaneously holding parliamentary and local offices should be repealed. On Monday, December 16, speaking before the municipal council of Pau, the southern French city where he has served as mayor since 2014, France's new prime minister said that the ban had been "a mistake."

Several laws, most recently in 2014, have prohibited members of Parliament from also serving as a mayor or president of a local or regional council. "I've suffered a lot," Bayrou said at the municipal council. "Over the last few years, I've been shocked by the rift between the base of French society and the circles of power." He said the ban had deepened citizens' "profound distrust toward the world of politics, whatever the political persuasion."

François Durovray, the caretaker transport minister, reacted: "Abandoning [the right to hold multiple offices] was detrimental. In a unitary country like ours, we need national leaders with local ties." Durovray said that "it's as head of a [local government] that you're really confronted with the realities of your territory."

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