Founder member of the Socialist Party, prime minister 1991-92. Cresson held successive ministerial portfolios in Francois Mitterrand's government 1981-86 and 1988-90. Her government was troubled by a struggling economy, a series of strikes, and unrest in many of the country's poor suburban areas, which eventually forced her resignation. A long-time supporter of Francois Mitterrand, and an outspoken defender of French trade rights, she became minister of agriculture 1981, minister of tourism 1983, minister of trade 1984, and minister of European affairs 1988, resigning from the last-named post 1990 on the grounds that France was in danger of being undermined by a lack of industrial mobilization. She replaced Michel Rocard as prime minister May 1991. Increasingly unpopular with the public, Cresson was replaced as prime minister April 1992 by Pierre Beregovoy, the former finance minister.
