Gabriel Attal, once France's youngest prime minister, said Friday he would run for president next year when Emmanuel Macron steps down, becoming the second prominent centrist to challenge the far right.
"I can't take this kind of French politics anymore, where it's just 50 shades of managing decline," said the 37-year-old.
"I have decided to run for president," he said under a blazing sun in the southern village of Mur-de-Barrez.
Attal joins a crowded field of candidates, including 55-year-old Edouard Philippe, an experienced centre-right former prime minister, and hard-left firebrand Jean-Luc Melenchon, 74.
Attal chose to announce his bid in rural France, where the centrists hope to strengthen their performance against the ascending far-right National Rally (RN) party.
National Rally is banking on its best chance yet at winning power next year, with either Marine Le Pen, 57, or Jordan Bardella, 30, running for the country's top job.
The newest presidential candidate, an openly gay Parisian known for his confidence and good looks, made history when he became France's youngest ever prime minister at the age of 34 in 2024.
He has had a meteoric rise in politics that has invoked comparisons with that of his mentor, and was dubbed by some a "mini-Macron" when he was appointed prime minister.
Macron was 39 when he won the Elysee Palace, becoming the youngest ever head of state since Napoleon.
Attal will turn 38 next March, just ahead of the presidential election scheduled for April.
- 'Communications pro' -
In what appeared to be a move laying the ground for his bid at the presidency, Attal opened up about his love life in a book published last month.
He devoted a chapter to "the man of my life", European commissioner and former minister Stephane Sejourne.
Attal will face fierce competition from Philippe, a former head of government who leads his own Horizons party, and analysts question his ability to lead the centrist camp.
One centrist, speaking on condition of anonymity, described Attal as "above all a communications pro".
"But that does not at all reflect a coherent political offering."
Philippe is currently seen as better placed in polls, which suggest the mayor of the northern city of Le Havre could win the election in a runoff against the far right.
"Attal will not be president," said a senior member of Philippe's party. "People will not vote for Macron a third time."
Attal distanced himself from the unpopular Macron after the president dissolved French parliament's lower house in 2024, cutting short his brief tenure as prime minister.
Macron's gamble was intended to stave off the advance of the far right, but the snap polls backfired, leading to months of political deadlock.
Attal has quickly risen through the ranks since entering politics in his early 20s.
He was elected to France's lower house of parliament in 2017 and later served as government spokesperson and budget minister.
As education minister between 2023 and 2024, he tackled bullying and also banned pupils from wearing the abaya, the loose-fitting garment from the shoulders to the feet worn by some Muslim women.
Macron's Renaissance party has often been criticised for its weak local roots, and Attal chose to launch his presidential bid in Mur-de-Barrez to send a message of solidarity with ordinary people.
"The day we stay locked in Parisian offices, in ministries, is the day politics stops," he said.
