FRENCH PRESIDENT EMMANUEL Macron has named defence minister Sébastien Lecornu as the country’s new prime minister.

It comes 24 hours after the National Assembly voted to oust Francois Bayrou as head of government in a vote of no confidence that he himself called, plunging France into fresh uncertainty. 

Bayrou, who survived just nine months in office, submitted his resignation to Macron this morning. 

In a statement, the Élysée Palace said Macron has told Lecornu “to consult the political forces represented in parliament with a view to adopting a budget for the nation and building the agreements essential to the decisions of the coming months”. 

“Following these discussions, it will be up to the new prime minister to propose a government to the President of the Republic,” it added. 

Considered a Macron loyalist, Lecornu is the seventh prime minister of the president’s mandate, and the fourth in just over a year.

The 39-year-old has been in his post more than three years, for most of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and is a staunch supporter of Kyiv. He is seen as a discreet but highly skilled operator who, crucially for Macron, himself harbours no ambition of becoming president. 

The formal handover of power between Bayrou and Lecornu is due to take place at midday on Wednesday.

The French president has been notoriously slow in “casting” a new prime minister in the past. But this time he has taken less than a day given the risk of financial and political instability.

“Emmanuel Macron is now in the front line to find a solution to the political crisis,” said the Liberation daily.

‘Vulnerable’

France’s borrowing costs, a measure of investor confidence, today surged slightly higher than those for Italy, long one of Europe’s debt laggards.

Bayrou had blindsided even his allies by calling a confidence vote to end a lengthy standoff over his austerity budget, which foresaw almost €44 billion of cost savings to reduce France’s debt pile.

In the end, 364 deputies in the National Assembly voted that they had no confidence in the government, while just 194 gave it their confidence.

Bayrou was the sixth prime minister under Macron since his 2017 election, and the fifth since 2022. His predecessor, Michel Barnier, was brought down by a no-confidence vote in December.

The crisis dates back to summer 2024 legislative elections that resulted in a hung parliament.

Macron, who has been leading diplomatic efforts internationally to end Russia’s war on Ukraine, now faces one of the most critical domestic decisions of his presidency over who to appoint as premier.

‘Break with the politics’

Alongside political upheaval, France is also facing social tensions.

A left-wing collective named “Block Everything” is calling for a day of action on Wednesday and trade unions have urged workers to strike on 18 September.

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“We need a prime minister very rapidly” as there should not be a “power vacuum” ahead of the protests, said Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau, who is also leader of the main right-wing The Republicans Party.

The 2027 presidential election meanwhile remains wide open, with analysts predicting the French far right will have its best-ever chance of winning. Macron is forbidden from standing for a third term in 2027.

The hopes of three-time presidential candidate for the far-right National Rally (RN), Marine Le Pen, depend on the outcome of an appeal hearing early next year over her conviction for a European Parliament fake jobs scam that disqualified her from standing for office.

She described Lecornu’s appointment as the “final shot of Macronism”.

The Socialist Party, which had been eyeing the prime minister’s position for itself, denounced Macron’s decision not to include them and said the president had taken the risk of provoking legitimate social anger and institutional stalemate”.

But former prime minister Edouard Philippe, who is on the centre-right, was more optimistic. Lecornu “has the qualities” to “discuss” and “find an agreement” with the other parties, he told TF1 television.

With reporting from © AFP 2025