Macron appoints Sébastien Lecornu as the new French Prime Minister

French President Emmanuel Macron on Tuesday appointed Sébastien Lecornu , 39, who served as defense minister until today, as the new prime minister , the Elysee Palace reported.

Macron has entrusted him with "the task of consulting the political forces represented in Parliament with a view to approving a national budget and forging essential agreements for the decisions to be made in the coming months," the French Presidency said in a statement.

One of the keys to Lecornu 's promotion is said to have been his closeness to Macron , who had wanted to appoint him to Matignon (the seat of the Prime Minister) as early as last December, to the detriment of centrist François Bayrou, who resigned today after losing a vote of confidence by a landslide the day before.

The former member of the center-right Republicans (LR) is the fourth prime minister Macron has appointed in less than a year . Gabriel Attal (2024), Michel Barnier (2024) and François Bayrou (2024-2025) preceded him, all of whom served less than a year.

The latter two failed in separate motions in the National Assembly, following a circumstantial agreement between Marine Le Pen's far right and the left.

If the new head of government doesn't want to end up like his two predecessors, he will have to reach a non-aggression pact in the Assembly, either with Marine Le Pen's far-right group or with some of the progressives, a priori the Socialists.

Amidst the social and economic uncertainty that France is experiencing, under pressure from the markets and social protests, the 2026 budget proposal , due to be presented in October, will be the prime minister's first test.

Lecornu , who will assume his new duties at noon tomorrow, Wednesday, in a ceremony in Matignon, led by Bayrou, will be tasked with presenting his ministerial cabinet, likely in the coming days.