France’s new prime minister resigned on Monday after less than one month in the role.
Sebastien Lecornu, 39, met with president Emmanuel Macron, who accepted his resignation, the French presidency said in a statement.
Speaking on the steps of the Hôtel de Matignon this morning, he said: “You cannot be prime minister when the conditions are not met.”
Lecornu’s resignation came just a day after naming his ministers, and after only two weeks in office. His resignation makes it the shortest-lived government of the Fifth Republic.
Lecornu, a former defence minister, was due to deliver his general policy statement to the National Assembly on Tuesday.
He was appointed prime minister on September 9, a day after a vote of confidence toppled François Bayrou as head of the government.
Lecornu, the seventh prime minister of Macron’s presidency, announced only on Sunday that he had appointed his ministers, and was set to hold their first meeting on Monday afternoon.
Political opponents on the left and right had condemned Lecornu’s appointments. But his resignation on Monday was unexpected and threatens to add to France’s burgeoning political crisis.
Macron had named Lecornu – a close ally – as prime minister last month in an effort to defuse political gridlock, rather than trying to widen appeal across the political spectrum.
Lecornu was immediately tasked with garnering approval to pass austerity measures to reign in spiralling public spending.
For weeks, he had been consulting with political allies and opponents in an effort to win support for the budget. But French parliament remains divided on the issue.
Moments after Lecornu’s resignation was announced, National Rally president Jordan Bardella called on Macron to dissolve the National Assembly.
“There can be no restored stability without a return to the polls and without the dissolution of the National Assembly,” the leader of the right-wing populist party wrote on X.
Marine Le Pen likewise called to dissolve the National Assembly, describing the resignation was a “wise move”.
Mathilde Panot, president of the La France Insoumise (LFI) group, wrote on X: “Lecornu resigns. 3 Prime Ministers defeated in less than a year. The countdown has begun. Macron must go.”
The LFI called on the National Assembly to review Emmanuel Macron’s impeachment motion, de facto leader Jean-Luc Mélenchon said on Monday.
It was unclear how Macron would proceed. He had previously ruled out resigning before his presidency ends in 2027.
Lecornu had spent weeks trying to form a functioning government against a backdrop of stretched public finances and political instability as the hard left and hard right continue to gain ground.
His choice of ministers had attracted criticised from across the political spectrum, particularly his decision to bring back former finance minister Bruno Le Maire to serve at the defense ministry.
Other key positions remained largely unchanged from the previous cabinet, with conservative Bruno Retailleau staying on as interior minister, in charge of policing and internal security, Jean-Noel Barrot remaining as foreign minister, and Gerald Darmanin keeping the justice ministry.
Seeking consensus at the deeply fractured National Assembly, Lecornu had announced that he would not employ a special constitutional power his predecessors used to force a budget through parliament without a vote and would instead seek a compromise with lawmakers from the left and the right.
French politics have been embroiled in instability since July 2024, when a snap election produced a hung parliament.
Prime ministers have since struggled to gain the support to pass bills. Bayrou’s government was ousted last month after parliament rejected his austerity bill to cut back on spiralling public spending.
Previous governments had forced through annual budgets without consulting parliament. Lecornu had promised last week that lawmakers would be able to vote on the bill.
The Paris Stock Exchange fell by nearly two per cent on Monday around 08:00 GMT, following the announcement of Lecornu’s resignation.
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