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Emmanuel Macron resigns as French economy minister

Former close ally of President François Hollande breaks away to prepare rival presidential bid agaist his mentor.

La rédaction de Mediapart

This article is freely available.

France’s economy minister, Emmanuel Macron, has resigned, breaking away from his mentor François Hollande to prepare for a rival presidential bid, reports the Financial Times.

People close to the 38-year-old politician who helped Mr Hollande reach power in 2012 and became one of the president’s closest advisers at the Elysee, say he handed his resignation in on Monday.

On Tuesday Mr Macron informed his staff that he would step down from his ministerial role to “regain my freedom” and to focus on building a “transformation plan” for France. However, he stopped short of declaring his presidential candidacy.

“It was emotional and a lot of people applauded him,” a person who attended the meeting at the ministry said.

Coming less than eight months before the presidential election, Mr Macron’s resignation was widely expected as part of a carefully orchestrated attempt to reach France’s top job.

Unknown to the wider public until 2014, when Mr Hollande promoted him from economic adviser to economy minister, Mr Macron won immediate popularity by attacking leftwing taboos such as the 35-hour working week and the wealth tax.

Battling a socialist rebellion in parliament against a package of liberalising laws that included an extension of Sunday trading hours, he became the symbol of a modern left, embracing reforms.

In April this year, Mr Macron created his own political party, En Marche! (On the move), which he said was neither on the right nor on the left — a move widely seen as a springboard for a presidential bid. In July, he held his party’s first rally in Paris, coming within an inch from announcing his candidacy.

On Monday, Mr Hollande asked Mr Macron to back his attempt to seek re-election. But Mr Macron refused, according to a person close to him.

France has now switched into full presidential campaign mode. The centre-right will nominate its presidential candidate in open primary elections in November, in a race likely to pit Nicolas Sarkozy, the former leader, against Alain Juppé, a former conservative prime minister.

Read more of this report from the Financial Times.