- French President Emmanuel Macron appointed Defense Minister Sébastien Lecornu, 39, as prime minister, replacing Francois Bayrou, who was ousted after nine months in office.
- Lecornu becomes Macron’s fifth prime minister in under two years.
- Lecornu is a longtime Macron loyalist with a conservative background, having joined Macron’s centrist movement in 2017 and led his 2022 re-election campaign.
- Macron tasked Lecornu with consulting all parliamentary parties to reach a consensus on the 2026 budget before forming his cabinet.
- Bayrou was removed by a no-confidence vote after his proposed €44 billion spending cuts were rejected by far-left and far-right parties.
France’s Macron Appoints Defense Minister Sebastien Lecornu as New Prime Minister
