On 21 June 2017, he resigned from the government amid an investigation into the MoDem's allegedly fraudulent employment of parliamentary assistants, initiated earlier that month.

He studied literature at university, and at the age of 23, sat the "agrégation", the highest qualifying level for teachers in senior high schools and preparatory classes in France.

In this post, he proposed a reform allowing local authorities to subsidise private schools, which caused massive protests and was quashed by the Constitutional Council.

In 1989, after poor results in both the municipal elections and the European Parliament elections, Bayrou and twelve other centre-right parliamentarians including Philippe Séguin, Michel Noir, Alain Carignon, Étienne Pinte, Michel Barnier, François Fillon, Charles Millon, Dominique Baudis, François d'Aubert, Philippe de Villiers and Bernard Bosson demanded reform of the system at the RPR and the UDF, criticising the most prominent politicians of these parties including former president Valéry Giscard d'Estaing and Prime Minister Jacques Chirac.

In 2002 François Bayrou rejected proposals to merge the UDF with the Rally for the Republic (RPR), into a new entity that later became the Union for a Popular Movement (UMP).

[13] On 16 May 2006, Bayrou supported a motion of no confidence sponsored by Socialist deputies calling for the resignation of Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin's government following the Clearstream affair.

However, Bayrou's increasing support in polls in February complicated the "Sarko-Ségo" scenario, and led to speculation that the Parti Socialiste candidate would fail to progress to the second round for a second consecutive election, following the defeat of former Prime Minister Lionel Jospin in 2002 by National Front leader Jean Marie Le Pen.

François Bayrou confirmed his candidacy for the 2012 presidential election on 25 November 2011, in an interview with journalist Laurence Ferrari on her show Parole Directe on TF1.

[15] His supporters included: Bayrou was eliminated in the first round, receiving around half of his vote share from 2007; he endorsed Socialist François Hollande in the runoff.

[22] Le Canard enchaîné published information that Democratic Movement politician Marielle de Sarnez had been paid for work she had not actually done, embroiling Bayrou in a scandal about fictitious jobs.

[29] Following the appointment of Gabriel Attal as Prime Minister in January 2024, Bayrou stated that he would not be joining the government; he had been widely expected to return to the cabinet after he was acquitted of fraud charges shortly before.

[30] On 13 December 2024, following the motion of no confidence that ended Michel Barnier's government, Bayrou was appointed as Prime Minister by Emmanuel Macron.

Less than a week after his nomination, he faced criticism after flying to Pau on a presidential Falcon 7X jet to attend a session of the municipal council, rather than visiting Mayotte, which had been heavily affected by Cyclone Chido.

[38] On 30 December 2024, Bayrou visited Mayotte with several government members and announced several emergency measures to rebuild the islands' infrastructures and to resolve the local crisis.

[42] Bayrou has been a vocal campaigner on a variety of issues, including reform of the political process, civil liberties, and free software (see DADVSI).

[45] He criticized Nicolas Sarkozy's foreign policy, including the invitation of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi for a week-long state visit to France and the signing of military cooperation agreements with Libya.

Bayrou called the remarks "unacceptable", adding that "the primary responsibility, particularly of Christians, is the defence of life...This [Africa] is a continent in which tens of millions of women and men are dying.

"[46] He called for France to boycott the 2008 Summer Olympics, due to the poor human rights record in China and political unrest in Tibet.

During a rally in Paris on 21 March he said that "if this drama does not stop, France would do itself credit by not coming to the Olympic Games", criticising China's opposition to sanctions against Sudan over its involvement in the humanitarian crisis in Darfur.

He notably claimed that the journalistic revelations were attacks against the Church, suggesting that they were part of a media driven witch hunt but he denied these facts.

Rather than taking action in favor of the victims, French authorities, influenced by political figures including François Bayrou, targeted the whistleblowers who exposed these abuses.