His advisors call him “the Boss” because of his ruthless focus on control, but President Emmanuel Macron appears to be struggling to keep his ministers on message, reports The Telegraph.
Furious that Gérard Collomb, 70, the interior minister, has reportedly been nicknamed “His Most Senile Highness” by colleagues, Mr Macron harangued ministers during an extended cabinet meeting this week.
The president’s ire was roused by newspaper accounts of a “power struggle” within government and “dirty tricks” ahead of an expected reshuffle.
His determination to control ministers and their communications is reminiscent of Tony Blair’s approach to government.
The members of Mr Macron’s cabinet, drawn from the Left, Right and centre of the political spectrum, tend to be technocrats. Most are little known to the public. Many are relative political newcomers.
The impression of backbiting is at odds with the efforts of the centrist president to present his administration as free from the factional infighting and personal rivalries that weakened previous governments.
Mr Macron, who has a tendency towards hubris, took office saying he wanted to rule like “Jupiter”, the sky god, remaining above the fray of day-to-day politics.
He advised ministers to follow his example and keep “narcissistic” reporters at arm’s length, complaining that French journalists were “too interested in themselves and not enough in the country.”
But plunging approval ratings as he pushes through business-friendly economic reforms and cuts in benefits are forcing him to adjust his communications strategy.
With a poll showing that nearly six months after Mr Macron formed his government, most ministers are still unknown to the public, he now wants them to appear on television more often to defend his policies.