French interior minister to step down in another blow to Macron

French President Emmanuel Macron refused to accept the resignation of his interior minister Monday, in the latest sign of uncertainty at the heart of the government after two high profile cabinet ministers stepped down. Collomb, 71, a former Socialist party stalwart who became one of Macron’s earliest and most eager backers, told the conservative Le Figaro newspaper he wanted to resign so he could run for election as mayor of his hometown Lyon. Yet Collomb insisted on Tuesday: "Today, given rumors and pressures there might be, I don't want the fact that I'm a candidate somewhere to trouble the interior ministry," he said. Interior Minister Gerard Collomb, viewed as one of Macron's most loyal ministers and a heavyweight in his cabinet, has been under pressure to relinquish his post immediately since he announced in September that he would quit the ministry to run for his old job as mayor of Lyon in eastern France in 2020. France's Emmanuel Macron accepted the resignation of his interior minister, the Elysee Palace said Wednesday, in the latest blow to the president who had earlier refused to allow his loyal ally to quit.
French President Emmanuel Macron accepts the resignation of Minister of the Interior Gérard Collomb.