Emmanuel Macron, France’s rebellious economy minister, has quit the government, increasing speculation that he will launch his own presidential bid in an attempt to capitalise on French distrust of the political class.



François Hollande’s office confirmed that Macron had resigned as economy minister and that the minister of finance, Michel Sapin, would take over what is one of the government’s most important jobs.

Macron, who has left little doubt regarding his presidential ambitions, has not yet launched a campaign for next year’s presidential race.

His departure puts an end to two years of government tension stoked by his outspoken criticism of the president and one-time mentor, Hollande. It opens up the possibility that the 38-year-old could launch an outsider bid to lead France, playing on what he sees as France’s disillusionment towards conventional politicians and political parties.

The philosophy postgraduate and former Rothschild banker is a relative novice in politics. He belongs to no political party and has never run for elected office. His rise to government minister was so extraordinary and unconventional that he is still known as a “flying saucer” on the political scene.

Five years ago the notion that someone with no constituency or political party and no electoral experience could be a serious contender for the presidency would have been unthinkable.

But Macron – a pro-reformist, pro-business figure who served for two years in the Socialist government while insisting he was “neither left nor right” – has spent months building up financial and strategic backing for a presidential bid. He is seen as a product of the times; a non-politician wanting to take on politics. For him, the fact that he is not in a political party is an advantage in a political climate that is tired of old party structures.

Macron was catapulted by Hollande from presidential adviser to economy minister just two years ago. In office he regularly launched scathing attacks on all of the left’s defining characteristics – from the 35-hour-week to the large public sector – and embarrassed the Socialists by repeatedly criticising the discrimination and inequality that still defines France’s high-rise suburban estates. He stated this month: “I am not a socialist.” Not afraid of grand metaphors, Macron has likened his own rebellious streak to France’s 15th-century saint and saviour, Joan of Arc.

Macron, pictured with Hollande in July, was promoted from presidential adviser to economy minister two years ago. Photograph: Jacques Brinon/AP

Macron has quickly become one of the most popular political figures in France, second only to Alain Juppé, who is currently favourite to win the right’s primary race to nominate its presidential candidate.

Only two years ago, when Macron was Hollande’s chief advisor in the Élysée Palace, he was unknown to the general public.

This year, when doubts were swirling about whether the deeply unpopular Hollande could run again for office, Macron launched his own political movement – En Marche! (Forward!) – which has gained 50,000 members. The movement enlisted volunteers to go knocking on doors across France to hear the public’s ideas on where the country was going wrong. Macron is seeking to build on the results of this in a political programme and book that he will probably publish this autumn.

“At least I’ve had a trade,” he said in office when opponents on the hard left mocked him as a banker. “I learned the life of business, commerce – it’s an art. I discovered the international [scene] and a financial savoir-faire that still serves me today,” he said of his time at Rothschild bank, where he is said to have earned €2m (£1.7m).

Polls show that he is most popular among rightwing, older and professional voters. Pollsters have warned that Macron has his work cut out to expand his support base.

In recent months, Macron has seen a slight dip in his poll ratings after a few PR mishaps, including being filmed having an argument with a demonstrator in a T-shirt in which he told him “the best way to afford a suit is to work”.

He was also criticised for falling into the celebrity trap after he and his wife appeared on the front page of several glossy magazines. He controversially blamed his wife for a criticised personal interview in Paris Match, only to appear on the front cover later this summer, wearing swimming trunks in an issue that got higher than average sales.

Macron’s marriage has been fodder for the gossip press. The son of two doctors, he grew up in the northern town of Amiens, but his parents sent him away to Paris to finish high school in an attempt to break up his relationship with his school French teacher, Brigitte Trogneux, 20 years his senior. Macron and Trogneux stayed together and have now been married for nine years.

Hollande’s opponents on the left and right said Macron quitting made the unpopular president look increasingly isolated. Key figures on the left of the party, such as the former economy minister Arnaud Montebourg, have already broken from Hollande. With Macron’s departure, Hollande has now lost a key figure on the centre-right of his government.