French President Emmanuel Macron appointed Armed Forces Minister Sébastian Lecornu as Prime Minister on the evening of September 9.
France 24 writes about this.
Lecornu (39) is the youngest head of government in French history. A former conservative, Lecornu joined Macronʼs centrist movement before his first presidential term in 2017.
He served as Minister of Local Government and was able to contain mass outrage through dialogue during the 2018 Yellow Vest protests over a fuel tax increase. He also proposed autonomy talks during unrest in Guadeloupe in 2021.
As Minister of Defense, Lecornu supported French rearmament and military support and cooperation with Ukraine.
The appointment of Lecornu, a centrist loyal to Macron and a former conservative, could prolong the crisis of disagreement between parliament and the president.
The left-wing forces that won parliamentary elections in the summer of 2024 are demanding that Macron appoint a head of government from them.
What preceded
Following the parliamentary elections in June–July 2024, the National Assembly was divided into three main blocs: a left-wing coalition known as the New Popular Front, centrist allies of President Emmanuel Macron, and the far-right National Rally party. None of the blocs won an absolute majority.
In September, Macron asked then-Prime Minister Michel Barnier to form a government dominated by republicans and centrists. Barnier negotiated with the National Rally until the end and made several concessions to meet their budget demands. However, the French far-right called them insufficient.
The opposition initiated a vote of no confidence in Barnierʼs government after he decided to pass a bill on the social security budget for 2025 (which provided for significant budget savings, including tax increases) without a vote by MPs. The opposition forces disagreed with this bill.
The National Assembly, the lower house of the French parliament, voted in favor of a vote of no confidence in the government of Prime Minister Michel Barnier on December 4. On December 23, a new government was formed in France, led by François Bayrou.
In late summer 2025, Bayrou submitted a motion for parliament to vote on a vote of confidence to break the months-long impasse over his austerity budget.
The French National Assembly failed to pass a vote of confidence in the government on the evening of 8 September. François Bayrou became the first prime minister in modern French history to resign due to a failed vote of confidence, rather than a vote of no confidence.
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