From a rural teacher to the failed prime minister of France. 5 facts about Francois Bayrou

French Prime Minister Francois Bayrou is on the verge of resigning due to a record rating drop. He was at the center of a scandal involving sexual abuse at the Catholic school where his children attended. Previously, Bayrou's reputation had deteriorated due to a slap in the face to a child and accusations of fictitious employment. What else is the head of the French government known for — in the Izvestia article.

Fact 1. The most unpopular Prime Minister

• At the end of June, Ifop, France's oldest sociological agency, conducted a public opinion poll on trust in France's top officials. President Emmanuel Macron received only 23% support, continuing the decline that began in April.

• The rating of the current Prime Minister Francois Bayrou turned out to be even lower. Only 20% of the respondents said they were satisfied with his work. At the same time, it is emphasized that the remaining 80% of the French are dissatisfied with him. This is a repeat of the anti-record for popularity indices, which have been calculated since 1958. Things were just as bad for the first woman in charge of the government, Edith Cresson, in November 1991. As a result, she spent less than 11 months in this position.

Fact 2. He started as a rural teacher

Bayrou was born in 1951 into a farming family living in a small village in the Atlantic Pyrenees. The future politician studied literature at the University of Bordeaux and became a high school teacher. Shortly before he passed the final exam, Bayrou's father died after falling from a hay cart.

• The young man had to return to the family farm to help his mother. At the same time, he worked as a history teacher at a rural school and was engaged in horse breeding. Bayrou brought his wife Elizabeth with him to the village, with whom he had six children. In the future, when Bayrou entered politics, he actively used the image of a "people's candidate" who had risen from rural areas.

Fact 3. Hit a child during the presidential campaign

• Bayrou participated in the French presidential elections several times. He achieved his greatest success in 2007, when he took third place with a score of 18.57%. He was just over 7% short of beating Segolene Royal and forcing the fight on Nicolas Sarkozy. Five years later, Bayrou became only the fifth with a score of 9.13%, after which he no longer tried to become head of state and only supported Macron in the struggle for this post.

But compared to these two campaigns, the French remember much more how Bayrou fought for the presidency in 2002. Shortly before the first round, the politician was going to participate in a rally in Strasbourg. As he walked down the street, he found himself surrounded by a crowd of locals. Suddenly, he slapped an 11-year-old child on the cheek and threatened him not to steal from his pocket. This moment was caught on a television camera and quickly spread on the news.

Premiers over Paris: what to expect from Macron on the resignation of the French government

Will the president reduce support for Kiev amid the political crisis in the Fifth Republic

Bayrou justified himself by saying that his slap was the same one that a father gives to a naughty son. However, this incident did not add to the candidate's popularity — he finished the election in fourth place with 6.86% of the vote. It is noteworthy that the child whom Bayrou accused of theft actually chose a criminal path in the end. Ten years later, he already had six convictions, and in 2022 he was sentenced to 10 years in prison for drug trafficking.

Fact 4. He resigned due to accusations of fictitious employment.

• In 2017, thanks to Macron's support in the presidential election, Bayrou returned to the government (he was already Minister of Education in 1993-1997) and was appointed Minister of Justice. However, he only held this position for one month and four days. Shortly after his appointment, Le Canard enchaîné newspaper reported that Bayrou's Democratic Movement party was engaged in fictitious employment and illegally received funds from the European Parliament. France Info radio station added that dozens of party employees were involved.

Criminal reprisals: Marine Le Pen was deprived of the right to participate in the 2027 elections.

How will the verdict of the leader of the French opposition affect the balance of political forces in the country

• Bayrou personally tried to hush up the scandal and called the management of the radio station. However, this irritated Prime Minister Eduard Philippe. Bayrou justified himself by complaining not as a minister, but as a private citizen, but this did not save him from a precipitous resignation. Later, the prosecutor's office investigated the case and brought it to court. In February 2024, many politicians received suspended sentences and a ban on participating in elections, but Bayrou himself was acquitted.

Fact 5. He was covering up a scandal at his children's Catholic school

• The current decline in the popularity of the politician is largely due to the scandal surrounding the Notre Dame de Betharram Catholic school in his native Atlantic Pyrenees. It was there that Bayrou, being a consistent Christian himself, sent all his six children to study.

• Back in 1996, it became known that corporal punishment was used at school, as a result of which one of the students became disabled. However, an inspection conducted by the Ministry of Education did not reveal any violations. The department was headed by Bayrou at that time. Soon, Pierre Sylviette-Carrickard, the headmaster of the school, received accusations of rape and sexual abuse of children, but he committed suicide without waiting for the results of the investigation.

• The school has been at the center of a scandal again these days, with hundreds of students filing complaints of corporal punishment and harassment. Among them was Bayrou's eldest daughter, who claimed that the priest had beaten her when she was 14 years old. The media began to write that the current prime minister was covering up for the school and its director, putting pressure on the judge and prosecutor. A parliamentary commission is currently investigating the scandal, before which Bayr had to testify.