France’s embattled Prime Minister, Sébastien Lecornu, sent shockwaves through the nation on Monday by resigning less than 24 hours after appointing his cabinet. This sudden departure marks his government as the shortest-lived in modern French history, catching everyone by surprise.
President Emmanuel Macron’s office confirmed the resignation in a brief statement, accepting both Lecornu’s departure and that of his ministers. The move follows intense turmoil surrounding the cabinet’s formation, which was a delicate blend of centrist and conservative factions.
This immediate resignation has intensified demands from both left-wing and far-right opposition parties for President Macron to call snap parliamentary elections, or even to step down himself – proposals he has consistently rejected.
Lecornu, a trusted ally of President Macron, had only been appointed less than a month prior. His resignation makes him the third prime minister to leave office within a single year, highlighting a period of unprecedented political upheaval in France.
During a televised address on Monday, Mr. Lecornu stated his efforts to ‘create the conditions for a French budget’ and ‘address urgent matters that cannot await the 2027 presidential elections.’ However, he concluded that ‘the circumstances no longer allowed me to fulfill the responsibilities of prime minister.’
The resignation sent ripples through the financial markets, exacerbating fears that Lecornu would fail to pass a crucial budget by year-end, a necessity to address France’s escalating national debt and deficit.
Since the snap elections called by President Macron in 2024, France’s lower house of Parliament has been trapped in a persistent deadlock, split between various left-wing factions, a fragile center-right coalition, and a nationalist, anti-immigration far-right bloc. No single party holds a working majority.
Marine Le Pen, the prominent leader of the far-right National Rally party, declared that only fresh parliamentary elections could resolve the ongoing political stalemate.
“This farce has gone on for too long,” she sternly told reporters following Lecornu’s departure.
Mr. Lecornu, poised to unveil the budget on Tuesday, faced an impossible tightrope walk. He had to simultaneously stabilize a fragile conservative alliance and satisfy the moderate Socialist Party. The Socialists’ demands, such as a wealth tax or reversing the recently increased retirement age, directly clashed with President Macron’s staunch pro-business policies.
In a desperate bid to avoid a political collapse, Lecornu last week declared he would forgo a constitutional power that allows a government to force through spending bills without a full parliamentary vote – a tactic frequently employed by previous prime ministers. This risky concession, intended to empower lawmakers, was meant to prevent his downfall even before budget negotiations commenced.
However, in his Monday address, Lecornu sharply criticized France’s political parties for squandering this chance. He attributed their failure to ‘partisan appetites,’ implying that many politicians were more focused on the upcoming 2027 elections. He further contended that the lack of genuine cross-party negotiation within French politics ultimately doomed his efforts.
“Political parties continue to behave as if they each command an absolute majority in the National Assembly,” Lecornu remarked, referring to France’s lower legislative body. “I was prepared for compromise, but every party insists on the others adopting its entire agenda.”
Opposition parties, however, lay the blame squarely at President Macron’s feet. They argue he has consistently refused to appoint a prime minister or a cabinet willing to challenge him, despite his centrist alliance suffering a significant defeat in the recent snap elections. Both of Lecornu’s predecessors had also been drawn from this same conservative-centrist coalition.
Jean-Luc Mélenchon, the veteran leader of the far-left France Unbowed party, asserted on Monday that Macron was “the root cause of this chaos, unwilling to accept the outcome of the very snap parliamentary elections he initiated.”
“Ever since, the republic and democracy have been undermined,” Mélenchon continued, noting that his party had been calling for Macron’s resignation for months.
Although Lecornu’s proponents lauded him as a skilled negotiator capable of securing a budget, the immediate cause of his resignation seems to have been an unexpected surge of discontent from conservative members within his own coalition.
The Republicans, France’s mainstream conservative party, expressed significant outrage over the appointment of Bruno Le Maire, former economy and finance minister (2017-2024), to the defense portfolio. As a seasoned centrist, Le Maire is widely criticized by Macron’s opponents for overseeing a dramatic rise in the national deficit during his tenure.
Hours after the cabinet was unveiled, Bruno Retailleau, Interior Minister and leader of the Republicans, stated that it “failed to signal the anticipated break” from previous policies. On Monday, Retailleau told the TF1 channel that Le Maire’s appointment, which he claimed Lecornu had concealed from him, demonstrated a profound “disconnect” between the government and the populace.
“We desperately need a budget; we need stability,” he declared. “But I cannot pledge allegiance to a government where information is withheld from me.”