PARIS — France’s new Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu resigned after less than a month in office and less than 24 hours after naming a new government that prompted a key coalition ally to withdraw support. The move plunged the country further into political crisis and left President Emmanuel Macron with few options.
The presidency said in a statement Monday that Mr. Macron, who has been hitting record lows in opinion polls, has accepted the resignation.
Mr. Lecornu had replaced his predecessor, Francois Bayrou, on Sept. 9 to become France’s fourth prime minister in barely a year during a prolonged period of political instability. Mr. Lecornu is now the shortest-serving prime minister in the history of the Fifth Republic, which started in 1958.
French politics have been in disarray since Mr. 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, with no party having an overall majority.
Despite more than three weeks of efforts to secure enough support to avoid a no-confidence vote, Mr. Lecornu was forced out just hours after forming his Cabinet on Sunday, having lost the support of conservatives who hold 50 seats and who objected to his choice for defense minister.
Mr. Lecornu’s government will manage day-to-day affairs until a new prime minister and Cabinet are appointed. It is now up to Mr. Macron either to name a new head of government or to dissolve the National Assembly and call early legislative elections.
Mr. Macron’s office announced Monday evening that he has asked Mr. Lecornu to hold more “final negotiations” over the next two days in the interest of national stability — suggesting a potential second chance for Mr. Lecornu to stay and attempt to form a new government. The brief statement gave no additional details.
A faithful ally of Mr. Macron, Mr. Lecornu said conditions were no longer met to remain in office after failing to build a consensus.
He said he believed the new government could have succeeded with just a little more work and if the coalition partners had only been a bit more “selfless,” in an apparent jab at Bruno Retailleau, the head of the conservatives.
“One must always put one’s country before one’s party,” Mr. Lecornu said.
With less than two years before the next presidential election, Mr. Macron’s opponents immediately tried to capitalize on the shocking resignation, with the far-right National Rally calling on him to either call for new snap parliamentary elections or resign.
“This raises a question for the president … can he continue to resist the legislature dissolution? We have reached the end of the road,” far-right leader Marine Le Pen said. “There is no other solution. The only wise course of action in these circumstances is to return to the polls.”
On the far left, France Unbowed also asked for Mr. Macron’s departure, while voices on the left called for the revival of a coalition made up of leftists, socialists, greens and communists.
The resignation rattled investors, sending the CAC-40 index of leading French companies plunging. The index fell by nearly 2% in the wake of the resignation before later making up some of the losses.
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.
Mr. Lecornu’s main task would have been to pass a budget, as France is faced with a massive debt crisis. At the end of the first quarter of 2025, France’s public debt stood at $3.9 trillion, or 114% of GDP. Debt servicing remains a major budget item, accounting for around 7% of state spending.
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