EditFrench government quits just hours after being appointed, deepening political crisis
"There can be no return to stability without a return to the polls and the dissolution of the National Assembly," National Rally leader Jordan Bardella said
France’s new Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu resigned on Monday, barely 14 hours after appointing his new cabinet, after allies and foes alike threatened to topple his government, driving French stocks and the euro sharply lower.
His swift resignation was unexpected and unprecedented and marked another major deepening of France’s political crisis.
After weeks of consultations with political parties across the board, Lecornu, a close ally of Macron, had appointed his ministers on Sunday and they had been set to hold their first meeting on Monday afternoon.
But the new cabinet line-up had angered opponents and allies alike, who either found it too right-wing or not sufficiently so, raising questions on how long it could last, at a time when France is already mired deep in political crisis, with no group holding a majority in a fragmented parliament.
Lecornu handed his resignation to Macron on Monday morning.
“Mr. Sebastien Lecornu has submitted the resignation of his Government to the President of the Republic, who has accepted it,” the Elysée’s press office said.
French politics has become increasingly unstable since Macron’s re-election in 2022 for want of any party or grouping holding a parliamentary majority.
Macron’s decision to call a snap parliamentary election last year deepened the crisis by producing an even more fragmented parliament. Lecornu, who was only appointed last month, was Macron’s fifth prime minister in two years.
Opposition wants snap elections
Macron’s decision to call a snap parliamentary election last year deepened the crisis by producing an even more fragmented parliament. Lecornu, who was only appointed last month, was Macron’s fifth prime minister in two years.
“There can be no return to stability without a return to the polls and the dissolution of the National Assembly,” National Rally leader Jordan Bardella said after Lecornu resigned.
Mathilde Panot, of the hard left France Unbowed, said: “Lecornu resigns. 3 Prime Ministers defeated in less than a year. The countdown has begun. Macron must go.”
French stocks and euro fall
Paris’ CAC 40 dropped 2%, on track for the biggest one-day drop since August, as Lecornu resigned, making it the worst-performing index in Europe, as banking shares came under heavy fire, leaving BNP Paribas, Societe Generale and Credit Agricole down between 5.7% and 7.3%.
The euro slid 0.7% on the day to $1.1665.
Deep instability
France has rarely suffered a political crisis so deep since the creation in 1958 of the Fifth Republic, the current system of government.
The 1958 constitution was designed to ensure stable governance by creating a powerful and highly centralised president endowed with a strong majority in parliament, and to avoid the instability of the periods immediately before and after World War Two.
Instead, Macron – who in his ascent to power in 2017 reshaped the political landscape – has found himself struggling with a fragmented parliament where the centre no longer holds the balance and the far-right and hard-left hold sway.
France is not used to building coalitions and finding consensus.
‘The circle was impossible to square’
Celia Belin, Senior Policy Fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR) commented that “the circle was impossible to square”.
With a National Assembly split in 5, with two powerful groups on the far-right and the far-left, a central (ever-diminishing) block, and two irreconcilable sides, Socialists and Républicains, Lecornu’s effort for a “non-censure majority” in the middle was a tall order, despite his negotiation talent, she said.
According to Belin, Macron is now faced with a choice: either he offers someone else the opportunity to try and attempt to find a governing majority – which could potentially be someone from the Socialists, as it’s not been tried before; or he calls for snap elections again.
Regarding Marine Le Pen’s call for snap elections, Belin said it is uncertain whether new elections would produce a different result than the one from last July.
“If new snap elections do not allow for a governing majority, the political crisis could turn into a regime crisis. In this case, President Macron’s ability to stay in power could be questioned”, the analyst concluded.
With Reuters and ECFR communication.
Caption: A microphone is set up in the courtyard before a statement by outgoing French Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu (not pictured) at the Hotel Matignon in Paris, France, 6 October 2025. Lecornu presented his resignation to the French president on 6 October, shortly after his cabinet was unveiled and nearly a month after being appointed as prime minister. EPA/STEPHANE MAHE / POOL
Updated: October 6, 2025 - 17:55
