President Emmanuel Macron of France appointed Michel Barnier, a veteran right-wing politician and the European Union’s former top negotiator on Brexit, as the new prime minister on Thursday, in hopes of breaking a political deadlock that has gripped the country since inconclusive snap parliamentary elections almost two months ago.
The French presidency said in a statement that Mr. Macron had entrusted Mr. Barnier “with the task of forming a unity government to serve the country and the French people.”
Mr. Macron’s announcement came as criticism of him mounted over an extraordinary delay in naming a prime minister. Weeks of consultations with political leaders proved fruitless as a rotating cast of potential candidates were floated by the presidency one day and shot down by opponents the next.
Mr. Barnier, 73, is a member of The Republicans, France’s main conservative party. His appointment is bound to infuriate the New Popular Front, the alliance of left-wing parties that beat expectations and won the most seats in the parliamentary elections in July. Their candidate for prime minister, Lucie Castets, a little-known civil servant, was summarily rejected by Mr. Macron.