French Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu resigned on Monday, just three weeks after taking office, marking the shortest tenure of a head of government in France since 1958 and dealing another heavy blow to President Emmanuel Macron.
Macron accepted Lecornu’s resignation on Monday morning, only hours after the prime minister announced the first names of his cabinet. Lecornu, appointed on 9 September, had been due to present his government’s policy roadmap to the National Assembly on Tuesday.
Instead, his sudden departure has thrown French politics into fresh turmoil, exacerbating an already unstable political climate.
Lecornu’s resignation follows days of fierce criticism from both the opposition and his own presidential camp. His newly unveiled cabinet, composed of 18 ministers, came under fire for its lack of renewal.
Twelve of those ministers had already served under Lecornu’s predecessor, François Bayrou, who was ousted in early September. The continuity drew sharp criticism from across the political spectrum, undermining promises of a fresh start.
Conservative Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau, reconfirmed in office, remarked that the new government “did not reflect the promised break.” Meanwhile, far-right National Rally (RN) leader Jordan Bardella, joined by Marine Le Pen, seized on the crisis to renew calls for snap parliamentary elections.
“There can be no stability without a return to the polls and without the dissolution of parliament,” Bardella declared.
The timing of Lecornu’s exit is particularly damaging for Macron, who has now presided over three failed minority governments since his re-election in 2022. Lecornu had been entrusted with the delicate task of pushing through a slimmed-down budget to rein in France’s ballooning deficit, which stood at 5.8% of GDP in 2024, alongside a debt-to-GDP ratio of 113%.
Both figures remain far above EU rules, which limit deficits at 3% and debt at 60%.
The resignation also exposed divisions within Macron’s Renaissance party. Former Prime Minister Gabriel Attal criticized the handling of the government’s formation, lamenting that his proposal to first negotiate a budget compromise before naming ministers had been ignored.
In a message to his parliamentary group, Attal decried the “appalling spectacle” displayed by “the entire political class” following Lecornu’s short-lived administration.
Observers warn that the political crisis could deepen if Macron is forced to consider dissolving parliament and calling early elections — a move that could embolden the far right, which continues to make electoral gains.
For now, Macron faces the urgent challenge of naming yet another prime minister capable of navigating both fiscal constraints and a fragmented parliament.
Lecornu’s record-breaking short term underscores the fragility of Macron’s leadership in his second mandate. With mounting debt, public anger, and an emboldened opposition, France faces uncertain months ahead as its political system struggles to find stability.
This is a developing story, and further updates are expected in the coming days.