He was 97 years old
Former French Prime Minister Édouard Balladur is dead
09/01/2026 – 12:22 a.mReading time: 2 minutes
Former French Prime Minister Édouard Balladur is dead. Balladur ran against Chirac in the 1995 presidential election – a power struggle that divided the conservatives.
The conservative former French Prime Minister Édouard Balladur is dead. Balladur, who was Prime Minister from 1993 to 1995 France died on Monday at the age of 97, his family announced. A funeral mass will be held for him “in the immediate family circle”. No further details were given.
president Emmanuel Macron praised Balladur on Platform
“A statesman with a progressive spirit”
“He was a statesman with a progressive spirit and will remain a role model for many men and women in his political camp,” said Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu on the online service
The conservative Balladur was the last prime minister under the socialist President François Mitterrand from March 1993 to May 1995. During his term in office, he advocated the privatization of state-owned companies. He began his political career as a close confidant of future President Georges Pompidou, whom he accompanied to the Élysée Palace as Secretary General.
Balladur’s rivalry with Chirac divided the conservatives
Balladur is most remembered by people in France because he ran in the 1995 presidential election campaign in open competition with conservative party leader Jacques Chirac.
For a long time it looked like Balladur would win, but in the end Chirac moved into the second round with a lead and won the election against the socialist candidate Lionel Jospin. This rivalry deeply divided the conservatives and spelled the end of Balladur’s career.
After his withdrawal from politics, Balladur came under suspicion of using bribes from arms contracts to support his presidential election campaign Pakistan to have secretly financed it. However, he was acquitted by the Court of Justice of the Republic in 2021.
