France’s political landscape was thrown into fresh turmoil this week as President Emmanuel Macron made the unexpected decision to reappoint Sébastien Lecornu as prime minister, just days after his resignation from the same post. The move, announced on October 10, 2025, has sent ripples through the country’s deeply divided National Assembly and reignited fierce debate over the future of French governance.
Lecornu, 39, had tendered his resignation on October 6, less than a month after his initial appointment on September 9 and not even a full day after forming his first cabinet. The brevity of his tenure and the speed of his return have underscored the acute instability gripping French politics. According to Reuters, Lecornu’s first stint in office lasted just 27 days, a period marked by mounting pressure to pass a contentious national budget and form a government capable of navigating a fractured parliament.
The reappointment, confirmed in a notably terse statement from the presidential Élysée Palace, contrasts sharply with the more elaborate announcement that accompanied Lecornu’s initial rise to the premiership. The brevity of the message seemed to reflect the urgency—and perhaps the exasperation—of the moment. Macron’s office stated that Lecornu’s top priority would be to form a new cabinet and deliver the 2026 budget by Monday, October 13, in accordance with constitutional deadlines.
“I accept – out of duty – the mission entrusted to me by the President of the Republic to do everything possible to provide France with a budget by the end of the year and to address the daily life issues of our fellow citizens,” Lecornu wrote on X (formerly Twitter), according to Al Jazeera. “We must put an end to this political crisis that exasperates the French people and to this instability that is harmful to France’s image and its interests.”
His return, however, has been met with skepticism and outright hostility from across the political spectrum. The far-right National Rally (RN) party, led by Jordan Bardella, wasted no time in denouncing the move. Bardella described the reappointment as “a bad joke, a democratic disgrace and a humiliation for the French people,” vowing to launch a no-confidence motion against the new government. “We will immediately of course censure this coalition which does not have any future,” Bardella declared, as reported by Al Jazeera and Reuters.
The left was equally unimpressed. Mathilde Panot, president of the France Unbowed group in the National Assembly, lambasted Macron’s decision, saying, “Never before has a president wanted so much to govern by disgust and anger. Lecornu, who resigned on Monday, was reappointed by Macron on Friday. Macron miserably postpones the inevitable: his departure.” Socialist Party member Francois Kalfon echoed these sentiments, stating, “Our scepticism grows by the day. We want something concrete on the pension reform. We are not afraid to return to the polls.”
Even some centrists and former Macron allies have voiced concern about the president’s approach. According to Al Jazeera, several party leaders who met with Macron at the Élysée Palace on October 10 said they felt “ignored” and believed the president was “disconnected from what they wanted to put across on the agenda.” Macron notably excluded both the far-right RN and the far-left France Unbowed from these talks, a decision that may have further fueled feelings of alienation among key factions.
Yet not all voices were critical. Yaël Braun-Pivet, president of the National Assembly, struck a more pragmatic note: “I note the reappointment of Sébastien Lecornu as Matignon [the French prime minister’s residence]. For weeks now, the National Assembly has been in full working order, ready to play its role to the full: debating, scrutinising and voting. Now it’s time to get down to work. It’s about time!”
The roots of the current crisis stretch back to last year, when Macron’s gamble on snap parliamentary elections backfired spectacularly. Rather than consolidating his power, the elections resulted in a hung parliament, with the far right making significant gains and the chamber splitting into three ideologically opposed blocs. This fragmentation has made it nearly impossible to secure stable majorities for key legislation, especially the annual budget.
Lecornu’s first term as prime minister ended abruptly after his proposed list of ministers was criticized by both right- and left-wing politicians for recycling too many figures from the previous administration. This criticism, coupled with the daunting task of passing a budget through a “deeply fragmented” parliament, led to his resignation and the subsequent days of frantic negotiations.
Macron’s decision to bring Lecornu back was reportedly made after meetings with mainstream party leaders, excluding the extremes. According to Reuters, Macron’s entourage has given Lecornu “carte blanche” to negotiate a new cabinet and budget, signaling a willingness to let his prime minister take the reins in an attempt to break the deadlock. Lecornu, for his part, has insisted that his new cabinet will “embody renewal and diversity” and that those joining must “renounce their personal ambitions to succeed Macron in 2027,” a nod to the presidential contest that has already begun to destabilize France’s fragile minority governments.
The stakes could hardly be higher. Failure to pass a budget by the constitutional deadline could force the government to resort to emergency legislation, keeping the country running on a roll-over budget and deepening public frustration. The budget deficit, forecast at 5.4% of GDP for 2025—nearly double the European Union’s cap—remains a major concern. Lecornu has suggested a target of 4.7% to 5% for 2026, but reaching consensus on how to achieve this remains elusive.
Key points of contention include Macron’s 2023 pension reforms, which raised the retirement age and have been fiercely opposed by leftist parties, who want them repealed. During Friday’s negotiations, Macron offered to delay raising the retirement age to 64 by one year, pushing the change to 2028—a concession Green leader Marine Tondelier dismissed as insufficient.
The political uncertainty has started to take a toll on the French economy. Central bank chief François Villeroy de Galhau warned on October 10 that the ongoing crisis could shave 0.2 percentage points off GDP growth, telling RTL radio, “Uncertainty is ... the number one enemy of growth.” Business sentiment has declined, and financial markets have grown jittery in response to the instability.
Lecornu himself has acknowledged the challenge ahead. Speaking after a visit to a police station in L’Haÿ-les-Roses, a suburb south of Paris, he said, “France needs a government that reflects the reality of parliament but is not held hostage to partisan interests.” On the contentious issue of pension reform, he added, “All debates are possible as long as they are realistic.”
As the deadline for the 2026 budget looms and the threat of snap elections hangs over the National Assembly, all eyes are on Lecornu and Macron to see whether this latest gamble will stabilize French politics—or plunge it into deeper crisis.
France’s political future remains uncertain, but the coming days will reveal whether Lecornu’s second chance can bring the unity and stability the nation so urgently needs.