Emmanuel Macron appoints Sébastien Lecornu as France's new prime minister

Sébastien Lecornu has been appointed France's new prime minister after the official announcement by French President Emmanuel Macron.

Following the political crisis triggered by the departure of François Bayrou, who lost the vote of confidence in the French National Assembly after being opposed by 364 of the 574 members of the main French chamber, President Emmanuel Macron hastened to appoint the new head of the executive, who is now the conservative Sébastien Lecornu, a 39-year-old politician.

The new French Prime Minister is a loyal collaborator of Macron with a conservative profile and was previously serving as Minister of Defence of the French Republic.

Lecornu's first and foremost challenge will be to rally political support to form majorities and avoid the existing political division, which is exacerbated by Macron's low political approval ratings, whose image is rapidly deteriorating.

The goal now is to approve the delicate budget next October, an issue that sparked heated controversy and the departure of former Prime Minister François Bayrou, an experienced 74-year-old politician, due to the economic and social cuts proposed to reduce the French state's spending burden.

The budget proposed to restructure the French state accounts included €44 billion in social cuts and the elimination of two public holidays, which sparked significant popular protests and a very clear political division, led mainly by left-wing factions, who demanded greater social protection and, as far as possible, avoided major budget cuts to social and labour policies.

In fact, there was speculation that Emmanuel Macron would turn to a prime minister linked to the left, such as the socialist Olivier Faure, but in the end he opted for a ‘Macronist’ and close collaborator such as Sébastien Lecornu.

According to the official statement issued by the Élysée Palace, the President of the Republic ‘has tasked him with consulting the political forces represented in Parliament with a view to adopting a budget for the nation and building the agreements essential for the decisions of the coming months’. The Prime Minister will then have to propose a government to Macron. ‘The Prime Minister's actions will be guided by the defence of our independence and our power, service to the French people and political and institutional stability for the unity of the country. The President of the Republic is convinced that, on this basis, it is possible to reach an understanding between the political forces while respecting each other's convictions,’ according to the official statement.

The new prime minister is the fifth in a very turbulent legislature that began with Emmanuel Macron's narrow electoral victory over the far-right Marine Le Pen in the last presidential elections, which marked the beginning of Macron's second presidential term. Furthermore, Lecornu is the third prime minister in less than a year in France, which is indicative of the political and social instability in the country.

Sébastien Lecornu is a loyal collaborator of Macron, the only minister who has remained in the government since Emmanuel Macron was first appointed French president in 2017, and has remained in the executive despite the intense ups and downs and continuous government reshuffles carried out over the years by President Macron.