Sébastian Lecornu promises to lead France out of the crisis with "breaks in substance" and "not just in form."

"We must succeed in ending this double fracture: the fracture between the political situation and the fracture with what our fellow citizens legitimately expect in their daily lives," Lecornu said in a brief speech following the handover ceremony from his centrist predecessor François Bayrou, on a day marked by social protests in various French cities. The Élysée Palace announced yesterday the appointment of Sébastien Lecornu as the country's new prime minister, replacing Bayrou, who was dismissed on September 8 after losing a vote of no confidence in Parliament.

Yesterday, Lecornu was tasked by Macron with forging "essential agreements" that would lead to the approval of the 2026 budget , something that Bayrou failed to do due to opposition from Marine Le Pen's far right and the left, which led him to resign yesterday after losing a vote of no confidence the day before.

The fourth prime minister appointed by Macron in less than two years, after Gabriel Attal (2024), Michel Barnier (2024) and Bayrou (2024-2025), he takes office on a day marked by national protests promoted by the social movement 'Let's block everything' and nine days after another day of strikes and walkouts, organized by unions and supported by left-wing parties.

Bayrou intends to " help the government " that the new prime minister will form in this "very difficult" and "very demanding and dangerous" moment for France. At 39 years old, the most discreet, loyal, and long-serving of the seven successive governments since French President Emmanuel Macron came to power, he assumes the reins of the executive branch at a time of political and social crisis that he intends to address, he said today, with "humility and sobriety."

Lecournu is the only one who has served as minister of several portfolios uninterruptedly since 2017—the most recent being Defense—which has given this former member of the center-right Republicans (LR) a certain notoriety.

After praising Bayrou's "courage" in defending the need for budget cuts until the "last minute," Lecornu insisted that "we will have to change" to prevent "the gap between national political life and global geopolitics from continuing." Therefore, he continued, it will be necessary "without a doubt to be more creative, sometimes more technical, more serious, in the way we work with the opposition."

" We will have to make changes, not just in form and method . Changes in substance as well," the new prime minister insisted, announcing his intention to begin meetings with representatives of political parties and trade unions this afternoon.

"This afternoon I will meet with the leading political forces and, in the coming days, with the other political and union forces; and I will soon have the opportunity to address the French people," he said after a brief first speech , which was also attended by several ministers from the outgoing government.

Budget cuts

Lecornu is scheduled to receive today the three political forces that supported the government of Bayrou , president of the Democratic Movement (MoDem) : Gabriel Attal, former prime minister, who took over as president of the presidential party Renaissance; Bruno Retailleau, leader of Les Républicans and outgoing interior minister; Edouard Philippe, founder of Horizontes and also former head of government under Macron,

There is no date yet set for meetings with opposition leaders, but Matignon has already contacted the Socialist Party and the Greens , while it has not yet been revealed whether there has been any rapprochement with Marine Le Pen's National Rally and Jean-Luc Mélenchon's La France Insoumise.

To exist, the future government must obtain at least a vote of no confidence from the Socialist Party , something essential to provide France with a budget for 2026, a reason that brought down the outgoing government after presenting a plan of cuts of almost 44 billion euros .

More than 200 people were arrested in France today as law enforcement officers conducted operations to prevent blockades, mainly on highways and transport infrastructure, during a day of protests against budget cuts.