By Clea Caulcutt

Copyright politico

Conservative leader Bruno Retailleau said he had spoken with Borloo on Thursday morning and described the 74-year-old as “disruptive” and neither left-wing nor close to Macron — his two key criteria for supporting a new premier.

France, however, needs a prime minister who is battle-ready, and Borloo left frontline politics in 2014. And the center-left Socialist Party, who may hold the next government’s fate in their hands, are signaling that Borloo would be unacceptable.

PM probability:

A warrior monk

Sébastien Lecornu swears he is not interested. But there are rumblings that he’s vying for his former job. Lecornu resigned from his post as prime minister on Monday morning — setting off the current crisis — but was then tasked by Macron to find a way out of the mess in 48 hours.

The 39-year-old then spent the next two days meeting with political factions across the spectrum and has appeared upbeat about the talks in his few media appearances. He said in a primetime interview Wednesday that he was working on a draft budget that could be a starting point for debates in parliament.

If things are going so well, why would he go?