French PM accused of sidelining colleague

France’s young Prime Minister Gabriel Attal has been accused of classic “mansplaining” after he invited himself into a broadcast debate with his party’s lead candidate for the European elections, Valerie Hair.

Politicians of all stripes have joined in the attack, saying Mr Attal’s sudden intervention did Ms Heyer no favours – making her look isolated and unnecessary.

Marine Le Pen, head of the right-wing National Rally (RN), said: “If (Ms Hair) were a man, Attal would never have done this.”

“She may be my political opponent, but the way the Prime Minister insulted her… was extremely shameful.”

Mr Attal, 35, who is France’s first openly gay prime minister, appeared unexpectedly on stage on Monday morning in a radio debate hosted by state broadcaster France Info.

To thunderous applause in the auditorium and an embarrassed laugh from Ms Hare, the Prime Minister said: “I’m very sorry to interrupt like that – I’ve just been up for an interview, and it’s important for me to come and support Valerie.”

He then spoke for three or four minutes about the challenges facing Europe in this weekend’s elections, and the reasons why young voters in particular should choose President Macron’s Renaissance Party.

At the end of her speech, Ms Hair’s speaking time was cut from the time she had been allotted.

Comments from other opposition leaders immediately began pouring in on X (formerly Twitter), asking why Mr Attal could not allow his party’s candidate – an experienced MEP – to lead the campaign.

“I share the anger that many people feel when they see the prime minister and the president express their displeasure at Valerie Hair,” said Marie Toussaint, who tops the Green Party list.

For Olivier Faure, head of the Socialist Party: “Macron and Attal are doing everything possible to undermine and make invisible their candidate. Every day they are putting themselves in his place.”

Ms Hair – who had made few public appearances in France before the campaign – faces a possible defeat at the weekend at the hands of the National Rally led by 28-year-old leader Jordan Bardella.

According to the latest polls, Mr. Bardella’s RN has 33%, while Ms. Hare’s rival, the Socialists, has about 15%.

Commentators said President Macron and Mr Attal no longer had confidence in their top candidate’s faltering campaign – which is why they were both putting themselves on the front lines of the media.

Mr Attal has already held a two-way election debate with Jordan Bardella – causing him to face anger from other parties, who say the Renaissance and the RN have a shared interest in turning politics into a perpetual battle between President Macron and the far right.

Mr. Macron has also been accused of improperly using presidential privilege to help his party in elections, including in a major speech on Europe last month and a television interview on Thursday to mark the 80th anniversary of D-Day.

“This is all a bit macho, isn’t it?” said François-Xavier Bellamy, who tops the list of conservative Republicans. He summed up Mr. Attal’s intervention this way: “Listen Valérie, I can do this better than you; I’m going to explain how this works in European elections.”

“When will this stop?” he added. “Is it normal for an executive to spend time in the media in the middle of a campaign?”