French justice minister and key ally to Macron quits after party scandal

Francois Bayrou is latest member of MoDem to resign

PARIS // French justice minister Francois Bayrou, a key ally of president Emmanuel Macron, said yesterday that he was leaving the government as his party battled a funding scandal. The move means that Mr Macron, who has pledged to clean up French politics after a series of scandals, is losing a centrist partner as he seeks to pull together a government to advance his pro-business reform agenda.

Mr Bayrou’s small centrist MoDem party was in an alliance with Mr Macron’s 14-month-old Republic on the Move movement. He was one of three MoDem ministers that Mr Macron appointed last month. All three are now set to leave.

Mr Macron yesterday hoped to complete a partial reshuffle of his month-old government after a parliamentary election on Sunday gave his party and MoDem a commanding majority. But with Mr Macron’s party winning 308 seats in the 577-seat national assembly, it does not need the support of MoDem’s 42 seats to push legislation through parliament.

“I have taken a decision not to be part of the next government,” Mr Bayrou said. Mr Macron has promised that his presidency will usher in an era of new, cleaner politics after a series of scandals involving ministers under his Socialist predecessor, Francois Hollande.

But, that pledge makes it difficult for the president to keep MoDem in his government because the party is accused of breaking European parliament rules by using funds to pay parliamentary assistants who are based in France.

Paris prosecutors have already opened a preliminary investigation into the funding claims, which Mr Bayrou has dismissed as false.

Resignation means president Macron will lose a centrist partner