France was thrown into fresh political turmoil on Monday after Prime Minister France is facing fresh political chaos after Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu resigned less than a month into his term. Lecornu said parties refused to compromise, making it impossible to govern. His resignation comes just weeks after President Emmanuel Macron appointed him following the collapse of François Bayrou’s government. With France’s parliament deeply divided, Macron now faces a tough choice—appoint a new prime minister or call fresh elections. Political instability, rising debt, and public frustration have shaken confidence in Macron’s leadership, while far-right leader Marine Le Pen is calling for new elections, saying French people have had enough of the turmoil.announced his resignation, less than 24 hours after unveiling his cabinet. His departure marks yet another setback for President Emmanuel Macron’s increasingly fragile administration, which has struggled to maintain political stability amid a deeply divided parliament and mounting public frustration.
“The conditions were not fulfilled for me to carry on as prime minister,” Lecornu said in a statement outside the Hôtel de Matignon, his official residence, which he had occupied for just under a month. He accused France’s political parties of being unwilling to compromise and said the current state of politics had made it impossible to govern effectively. “I was ready for compromise,” he added, “but all parties wanted the other party to adopt their programmes in their entirety. It wouldn’t need much for this to work, but humility and the ability to cast some egos aside are essential.”
The Elysée Palace confirmed the resignation shortly after Lecornu met with President Macron for an hour on Monday morning. The shock move comes only 26 days after Lecornu, previously France’s armed forces minister and one of Macron’s most loyal allies, was appointed to the post following the collapse of François Bayrou’s government. Bayrou’s administration fell after parliament rejected his proposed austerity budget, which aimed to slash government spending by €44 billion to address France’s ballooning deficit.
Lecornu’s government faced fierce opposition from across the political spectrum from the moment it was announced. Many critics accused him of merely reshuffling Macron’s old team rather than bringing in new faces or adopting new ideas. His cabinet was largely unchanged from that of Bayrou, a decision that prompted outrage in the National Assembly, where opposition parties immediately threatened to vote it down. Within days, his government’s survival appeared increasingly untenable.
“The only wise thing to do now is to hold elections,” said Marine Le Pen, leader of the hard-right National Rally (RN). “The joke’s gone on long enough. French people are fed up. Macron has put the country in an extremely difficult position.” Her remarks echoed a growing sentiment across much of France that the political system has reached an impasse, with neither the president nor any of his appointed prime ministers able to build a stable governing majority.
Macron now faces an unenviable choice. He has three constitutional options: appoint another prime minister, dissolve the National Assembly and call fresh elections, or resign himself. The last option is almost certainly off the table, as Macron has repeatedly stated that he will not step down before his term ends in 2027. Appointing yet another prime minister, however, would be a risky move given that Lecornu was widely seen as Macron’s final loyalist fallback. “Who now could he name to form a government?” one political analyst asked on France 24. “Lecornu was his last resort, and even he has failed.”
Some political observers suggest Macron could attempt to form a coalition with the moderate left, perhaps even appointing a Socialist prime minister to reflect the country’s shifting mood. However, such a move would likely be short-lived, as a left-wing government would almost certainly face the same gridlock that has plagued Macron’s centrist administration. That leaves only one logical path: dissolving the National Assembly and calling new legislative elections. But the outcome of such an election is far from certain.
Polls suggest that Macron’s Renaissance party would face a heavy defeat, with Marine Le Pen’s National Rally poised to make sweeping gains. The left-wing alliance, meanwhile, remains deeply divided, and France’s centrist bloc has lost much of its credibility among voters weary of years of political deadlock. The result could be a fragmented parliament even more polarized than the current one, making stable governance nearly impossible. Yet, as many commentators have noted, when all other options fail, calling new elections may be the only remaining recourse.
France’s political instability has been building since July 2024, when Macron called snap parliamentary elections in a bid to regain a working majority after a bruising defeat in the European Parliament vote. The gamble backfired spectacularly. The elections produced a hung parliament split among three rival blocs: Macron’s centrist coalition, Le Pen’s far-right National Rally, and a resurgent left-wing alliance. None was willing to cooperate, and every attempt at cross-party negotiation collapsed into acrimony.
Since then, France has cycled through five prime ministers in under two years. Michel Barnier, a veteran conservative, was appointed in September 2024 but lasted only three months before being forced out. His successor, François Bayrou, managed nine months before his austerity budget was voted down. Lecornu, chosen in desperation for his loyalty and experience, survived less than a month. His resignation underscores just how ungovernable France has become under the current parliamentary configuration.
Lecornu’s exit also comes against a backdrop of economic anxiety. France’s public finances are under severe strain, with the national deficit reaching 5.8 percent of GDP in 2024 and public debt soaring to 114 percent of GDP—equivalent to almost €50,000 per citizen. That makes France the third most indebted country in the eurozone after Greece and Italy. Efforts to rein in spending have met fierce resistance from unions and opposition parties, while public discontent has been rising over stagnant wages, high living costs, and ongoing pension reforms.
Financial markets reacted swiftly to Monday’s news. Stocks on the Paris exchange fell sharply in early trading, with investors worried about prolonged political instability and policy paralysis. Analysts warned that the uncertainty could undermine confidence in France’s economic outlook, particularly if new elections bring a surge in support for populist parties hostile to European fiscal rules.
For Macron, the challenge is existential. His once formidable authority has been eroded by repeated political crises, each one exposing the limits of his centrist experiment. What began in 2017 as a bold attempt to transcend the traditional left-right divide has gradually devolved into paralysis. The French president now faces the prospect of governing a nation increasingly divided, disillusioned, and distrustful of its leaders.
As Lecornu departed Matignon, he delivered a parting message that seemed directed as much to Macron as to the country’s fractious political class. “Partisan appetites have become stronger than the national interest,” he said. “All are behaving as if they had an absolute majority. France deserves better than this.”
