France gets new PM following election losses
The Socialist party suffered heavy losses in municipal elections on Sunday, prompting the appointment of Manuel Valls.
President Francois Hollande has appointed a new prime minister, a day after his Socialist party suffered heavy losses in nationwide municipal elections.
In a pre-recorded televised speech, broadcast on Monday, Hollande announced that 51-year-old Socialist Manuel Valls would replace Jean-Marc Ayrault as prime minister.
Hollande said Valls, the country’s former interior minister, would lead a “combative government” and that it was time to “start a new stage.”
“In the elections, you expressed your unhappiness and your disappointment. I have heard your message, it is clear,” he said.
The Socialists lost control of more than 150 towns to the right or far-right, including Marine Le Pen’s National Front.
The Socialist party retained control of Paris, with its candidate Anne Hidalgo becoming the French capital’s first female mayor.