French prime minister - Definition

The Prime Minister of France (Premier ministre de la France) is the functional head of the Cabinet of France.

In the Fifth Republic the chief political figure in France is the President with the Prime Minister having secondary importance. However when there is cohabitation (ie when the President is of one party while another party controls the National Assembly) the Prime Minister's importance is enhanced, since the president has little power to be exercised by himself alone.

Prior to the constitution of the Fifth Republic in 1959, the Prime Minister was usually the more important political figure. However, at that time there was no official position entitled "Prime Minister" in the French government. Rather, one of the government ministers held the semi-official title of President of the Council of Ministers (Président du Conseil de Ministres), and was unofficially known as the prime minister (premier ministre). Even this was something of a misnomer, as it was the President of France who actually presided over the Council of Ministers.

The current Prime Minister of France is Jean-Pierre Raffarin

• List of Prime Ministers of France

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