French PM resigns after less than a month in office, plunging the country deeper into political crisis and economic uncertainty.
President Emmanuel Macron has accepted the resignation of Sébastien Lecornu, the Elysée Palace confirmed on Monday morning. The move came just hours after Lecornu unveiled his cabinet, amid growing backlash from both allies and opponents who threatened to topple his government.
Only 24 hours earlier, the prime minister had announced his ministerial appointments, with the new cabinet due to hold its first meeting on Monday afternoon. But the line-up drew sharp criticism across the political spectrum — seen by some as too right-wing and by others as not right-wing enough — raising questions about its ability to survive in a parliament where no party holds a majority.
In his resignation speech, delivered in the courtyard of the Matignon Palace, Lecornu said France’s political parties were behaving “as if each had its own majority” in parliament.
“I was ready to compromise, but each political party wanted the other to adopt its entire programme,” he said.
Mr Lecornu, 39, a long-time ally of President Macron, was the seventh prime minister appointed by the president — and the fifth in just two years. His resignation after only 27 days in office is being described as unprecedented in modern French politics.
Since Mr Macron’s re-election in 2022, France’s parliament has remained unstable. The president’s decision to call a snap election last year further deepened the crisis, resulting in an even more fragmented assembly.
Following the announcement that the French PM resigns, opposition leaders demanded new elections. Jean-Luc Mélenchon, head of the far-left France Unbowed, called for Macron’s impeachment, while the far-right National Rally urged the president to dissolve parliament.
“There can be no return to stability without a return to the polls and the dissolution of the National Assembly,” said National Rally co-leader Jordan Bardella.
Party leader Marine Le Pen added, “We are at the end of the joke; the farce has gone on long enough.”
Markets reacted sharply to the news. French banks led a sell-off, with Société Générale falling more than 6% on the CAC 40 index, while BNP Paribas and Crédit Agricole also saw steep drops. The index closed 1.5% lower.
The euro weakened against both sterling and the dollar, while French government borrowing costs rose to levels last seen a month ago, when the country faced a similar political stalemate.
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