Will France’s PM offend Britain like her predecessor?

Élisabeth Borne was unveiled as the new prime minister of France last night and in her acceptance speech she paid tribute to her only female predecessor. She kept her compliment short, which was fitting, as Edith Cresson didn’t last long as PM. Appointed by Socialist president François Mitterrand in May 1991, Cresson was gone by the following April, but not before she had outraged much of the world.

All of this has been conveniently forgotten by the French press, and indeed the global media, in saluting the achievement of Cresson the trailblazer. The Guardian quoted Cresson telling a French broadcaster that ‘it’s more than time’ that there was another woman leading the government. Cresson, now 88, also criticised French politics for remaining too ‘macho’.

‘Macho’ never troubled Cresson during her time in politics. Au contraire. She knew how she liked her men, which was one reason why she didn’t have much time for the British, or indeed Anglo-Saxon men in general.