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Olivier Faure, the first secretary of the Socialist party (PS), said Macron's decision to name Barnier PM put him in the far right's pocket.

"Macron and his friends could have chosen not to punish the NFP, to let it govern while accepting it would have to compromise because it would not have an absolute majority. Instead, he preferred to put himself under the control of the RN," Faure posted on X.

A poll by Elabe on Friday suggested 74% of French people thought Macron had disregarded the election result with 55% saying they believed he had stolen the vote. At the same time, 40% said Barnier was a good choice for PM.

Thousands of angry leftwing protesters took to French streets on Saturday two days after Emmanuel Macron appointed a conservative prime minister.

Demonstrators accused the president of a “denial of democracy” after his decision to name the former EU Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier, 73, as leader of the government.

The appointment came two months after a snap general election left France with a hung parliament formed of three roughly equal blocs – the New Popular Front (NFP), a leftwing alliance; the centre, including Macron’s Renaissance party and the centre-right; and the far-right National Rally (RN) – none of which had a majority.

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Thousands of people took to the streets in France on Saturday to protest against Emmanuel Macron’s appointment of the centre-right Michel Barnier as prime minister, with leftwing parties accusing the president of stealing legislative elections.

Macron named Barnier, a conservative and the EU’s former Brexit negotiator, as prime minister on Thursday, capping a two-month-long search after his ill-fated decision to call a legislative election that delivered a hung parliament divided in three blocs.

Barnier, in his first interview in office, said on Friday night that his government, which lacked a clear majority, would include conservatives, members of Macron’s camp and, he hoped, some from the left.

In response to the appointment of Barnier, whose centre-right Les Républicains party is only the fourth largest bloc in parliament, with fewer than 50 lawmakers, leftwing party leaders, unions and student bodies called for mass protests on Saturday before new action, including possible strikes on 1 October.

The LFI said 130 protests would take place across the country.

Barnier was continuing consultations on Saturday as he sought to form a government, a tricky job given he faces a potential vote of no confidence, especially with an urgent draft budget for 2025 due to be discussed in parliament at the start of October.