PM Sébastien Lecornu resigns: Resignation comes after less than a month in role

He faced the difficult task of securing parliamentary approval for next year’s austerity budget in a deeply divided assembly. His two immediate predecessors, Francois Bayrou and Michel Barnier, were both removed by the legislature over disagreements on spending plans.

Sébastien Lecornu, 39, is a French politician who recently served as Prime Minister of France. Before this role, he was the youngest defence minister in French history and the longest-serving minister in President Macron’s government since 2022.

Lecornu started as a conservative but joined Macron’s centrist party, Renaissance, in 2017. He has also held roles as minister of local government and minister of overseas affairs.

During the 2018 “yellow vest” protests against social injustice, Macron appointed Lecornu to lead a nationwide “great debate” to ease tensions. As defence minister, he pushed through a record €413 billion defence budget for 2024–2030, the largest increase in 50 years. This plan focuses on modernising France’s nuclear weapons, increasing intelligence funding, and developing more remotely controlled military technology