François Bayrou is a prominent French centrist politician, born on May 25, 1951, in Bordères, Pyrénées-Atlantiques, to farming parents.[1][2][3] He founded and has led the Mouvement Démocrate (MoDem) since 2007, after presiding over the Union pour la Démocratie Française (UDF) from 1998 to 2007, and earlier centrist groups like the Centre des Démocrates Sociaux and Force Démocrate.[1][2][5] Bayrou entered politics in 1982 as a general councillor and later served as a deputy for the Gaullist Union for French Democracy.[3] His notable roles include Minister of National Education from 1993 to 1997 under Édouard Balladur and Alain Juppé, making him the youngest education minister in the Fifth Republic at age 41,[1][2][4] and a Member of the European Parliament from 1999 to 2002.[1][5] Locally, he has been mayor of Pau since 2014, re-elected in 2022, and president of the Pau Béarn Pyrénées agglomeration community.[3][5] A three-time presidential candidate in 2002 (6.84%), 2007 (18.57%, third place), and 2012 (9.13%), Bayrou endorsed Emmanuel Macron in 2017, forgoing a fourth run.[1][2][3][4] He briefly served as Minister of Justice in 2017 but resigned after 34 days amid allegations of fictitious MoDem parliamentary employment; he was acquitted in February 2024.[1][2][4] In 2020, Macron appointed him head of the Haut Commissariat au Plan.[1] Bayrou's key achievements include transforming UDF into the unified MoDem, advocating a "third way" centrism focused on job creation, education, suburban improvements, balanced budgets, and a stronger EU with France leading.[2] In December 2024, Macron named him Prime Minister after Michel Barnier's censure amid a divided National Assembly.[1][2][3][4] His government fell to a no-confidence vote on September 8, 2025 (364-194), due to his controversial budget and refusal to compromise, marking the first self-imposed confidence loss in the Fifth Republic; he resigned September 9.[2] Polls showed him as the most unpopular PM under the Fifth Republic.[2] Bayrou remains a key Macron ally and MoDem leader.[3][5]