PRESIDENT Emmanuel Macron was poised to formally accept Prime Minister Gabriel Attal’s resignation today — while leaving him in charge of a caretaker government.

Mr Attal offered his resignation last week after the pro-Macron Ensemble (“Together”) bloc he leads won fewer seats than the left-wing New Popular Front (NPF), and fewer votes than either it or the far-right National Rally. 

No bloc has a parliamentary majority, a situation Mr Macron has exploited to avoid asking the largest one — the NPF — to try to form a government, which would be the usual procedure.