Emmanuel Macron has appointed a 34-year-old who made his name by banning Muslim abaya robes in schools as France’s youngest prime minister.

Gabriel Attal, the education minister, was chosen to breathe new life into the president’s flagging second term in office.

The move will not necessarily lead to any major political shift but signals Macron’s desire to try to move beyond last year’s unpopular pension and immigration reforms and improve his centrist party’s chances in June’s EU ballot.

Mr Attal, who has been called “Macron Boy”, is seen by some as a potential presidential candidate in 2027. He is the first openly gay prime minister.

He became a household name as government spokesman during the Covid pandemic, and will replace Elisabeth Borne, who was sacked on Monday.

One of the country’s most popular politicians in recent opinion polls, Mr Attal has impressed since taking over as education minister last summer, with a number of high-profile moves including the ban on abayas in schools, which pleased the Right.

“Gabriel Attal is a bit like the Macron of 2017,” said Patrick Vignal, a French MP, referring to the point at which Mr Macron took office as the youngest leader in modern French history. Mr Vignal added that Mr Attal “is clear, he has authority”.

Mr Macron has struggled to deal with a more turbulent parliament since losing his absolute majority shortly after being re-elected in 2022.

“The Macron-Attal duo can bring a new lease of life pto the government[,” said Jean-Daniel Levy, a Harris Interactive pollster.

But opposition leaders said they did not expect much from the change in prime minister, with Mr Macron taking on much of the decision-making.

“Elisabeth Borne, Gabriel Attal or someone else – I don’t care, it will just be the same policies,” Olivier Faure, the Socialist Party leader, told France Inter radio.

Opinion polls show Mr Macron trailing Marine Le Pen’s far-Right party by around eight to 10 percentage points.