Mr Jean-Pierre Raffarin of the Liberal Democratic Party was named as the new French prime minister this morning by president Mr Jacques Chirac, shortly after the resignation of Mr Lionel Jospin.
Mr Jospin, the outgoing Socialist prime minister beaten into third place by Mr Jean-Marie Le Pen in the first round of the presidential election, had earlier travelled to the Elysée Palace to hand his resignation to Mr Chirac.
The appointment of Mr Raffarin could indicate that Mr Chirac intends to group the French nation around the centre of the political spectrum rather than attract backers of Mr Le Pen by choosing a more right-wing prime minister, such as Mr Nicolas Sarkozy, one of the most ambitious and capable of a younger generation of right-wing politicians.
Yesterday, the electorate turned out in force to deliver an unambiguous rejection to Mr Le Pen, the far-right leader of the National Front party, and victory to Mr Chirac, who won about 82 per cent of the vote. Mr Raffarin is a close ally of Mr Chirac and has made a name for himself in regional government, as senator for Poitou-Charentes.
The 53 year-old Mr Raffarin was minister for small business in Mr Alain Juppé's government between 1995 and 1997. A member of the Liberal Democratic party led by Mr Alain Madelin, the straight-talking Mr Raffarin nevertheless backed Mr Chirac in the first round. He is known to favour decentralisation to the regions.
Financial Times Service