Elisabeth Borne: New French PM urges girls to pursue their dreams

France’s new Prime Minister, Elisabeth Borne, is the first woman to hold the job in more than 30 years and says she hopes to inspire young girls.

“I want to dedicate my nomination to all little girls and tell them to go all the way pursuing your dreams,” she said in her inauguration speech.

The engineer, 61, has been described as a “left-wing technocrat”. She served most recently as labour minister under President Emmanuel Macron.

France has a general election in June.

But the uncertainties of the 12-19 June parliamentary election raise a question mark over the length of Ms Borne’s tenure, and under the French system the president’s powers considerably outweigh the prime minister’s.

A powerful leftist-green alliance led by Jean-Luc Mélenchon will challenge the president’s centrist party next month, and some speculate that the veteran left-winger could become prime minister.