Analysis-Macron sends out France's youngest prime minister to fend off far right

France's newly appointed Prime Minister Gabriel Attal applauds as outgoing Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne leaves at the end of the handover ceremony at the Hotel Matignon in Paris, France, on January 9, 2024. Emmanuel Dunand/Pool via REUTERS

PARIS (Reuters) - By naming young political prodigy Gabriel Attal as prime minister, French President Emmanuel Macron is showing what he hopes is a winning hand to beat the far right, which is leading in opinion polls ahead of June's European parliamentary elections.

Like elsewhere in Europe, France's far right has benefited from a cost-of-living crisis, untamed immigration and resentment towards a political class that Macron has failed to bring closer to common folk despite promising to shake up politics in 2017.