President Emmanuel Macron has accepted the resignation of his interior minister Gerard Collomb, the Elysee Palace has announced. The prime minister, Edouard Philippe, will assume the portfolio until a successor is chosen. The 71-year-old politician, one of the closest allies of the president, offered to step down on Monday but Macron refused to accept his resignation. On Tuesday, Collomb once again reiterated his desire to quit, forcing the French president to bow to his demands. Collomb had earlier noted that he wants to run again for mayor of Lyon, a post he held from 2001 until 2017.