French Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu resigned less than a month after taking office, plunging France into a political crisis. President Macron has accepted the resignation, marking his fourth prime minister in under a year. Lecornu cited the failure to build consensus as the reason for his resignation.
Lecornu, a faithful ally of Macron, stated that conditions were no longer met for him to remain in office. His resignation has led to calls for Macron to dissolve parliament or resign, with the far-right National Rally demanding new snap elections or his departure. Meanwhile, the far-left group France Unbowed also pressed for Macron’s resignation. The resignation has rattled investors, sending the CAC-40 index down nearly 2%.
Ministers appointed just the previous night found themselves in the bizarre situation of becoming caretaker ministers — kept in place only to manage day-to-day affairs until a new government is formed — before some of them had even been formally installed in office. Agnès Pannier-Runacher, the newly reappointed minister for ecology, posted on X: ‘I despair of this circus.’
Lecornu’s choice of ministers has been criticized across the political spectrum, particularly his decision to bring back former Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire to serve at the defense ministry, with critics saying that under his watch France’s public debt soared. At the end of the first quarter of 2025, France’s public debt stood at 3.346 trillion euros ($3.9 trillion), or 114% of GDP. Debt servicing remains a major budget item, accounting for around 7% of state spending.
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-Noël Barrot remaining as foreign minister and Gérald Darmanin keeping the justice ministry.
French politics have been in disarray since Macron called snap elections last year that produced a deeply fragmented legislature. Far-right and left-wing lawmakers hold over 320 seats at the National Assembly, while the centrists and allied conservatives hold 210. Seeking consensus at the National Assembly, Lecornu consulted with all political forces and trade unions before forming his Cabinet. He also vowed that he would not employ a special constitutional power his predecessors had used to force budgets through Parliament without a vote and would instead seek compromise with lawmakers from the left and the right.