France’s new Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu and his government resigned on Monday, just hours after announcing their cabinet line-up, marking the shortest-lived administration in modern French history and sending stocks and the euro sharply lower.
The sudden collapse, which followed threats from both allies and opponents to topple the government, deepened France’s political turmoil amid growing calls for fresh elections.
Lecornu’s tenure lasted just 27 days, while his government survived only 14 hours. The far-right National Rally (RN) immediately urged President Emmanuel Macron to dissolve parliament, while the hard-left France Unbowed demanded that Macron himself step down.
“Mr. Sebastien Lecornu has submitted the resignation of his Government to the President of the Republic, who has accepted it,” the Elysee Palace said in a statement.
Cabinet line-up triggers uproar
After weeks of consultations across party lines, Lecornu, a close Macron ally, unveiled his new cabinet on Sunday, with the first meeting scheduled for Monday afternoon. However, the line-up provoked widespread backlash, viewed by some as too right-wing and by others as not right-wing enough.
The reaction highlighted the difficulty of governing a fragmented parliament in which no group holds a majority. Lecornu handed in his resignation to Macron on Monday morning.
Opposition demands fresh elections
Macron’s decision to call a snap parliamentary election last year had already deepened divisions, producing an even more fractured legislature. Lecornu was the president’s fifth prime minister in just two years.
“There can be no return to stability without a return to the polls and the dissolution of the National Assembly,” RN leader Jordan Bardella said after the resignation.
Mathilde Panot of France Unbowed added: “Lecornu resigns. Three prime ministers defeated in less than a year. The countdown has begun. Macron must go.”
Far-left leader Jean-Luc Mélenchon echoed that demand, writing on X:
“Following the resignation of Sebastien Lecornu, we call for the immediate consideration of the motion tabled by 104 MPs for the impeachment of Emmanuel Macron.”
Economic fallout
Financial markets reacted swiftly to the political chaos. Paris’s CAC 40 index dropped 2%, its worst single-day fall since August, with banking giants BNP Paribas, Société Générale and Crédit Agricole plunging between 5.7% and 7.3%. The euro slid 0.7% to $1.1665.
Growing frustration within Macron’s camp
Outgoing Environment Minister Agnès Pannier-Runacher voiced frustration at the political paralysis, writing on X:
“I despair of this circus where everyone plays their part, but no one takes responsibility. To those who still think that we could govern without the Left, I say: you are mistaken. We can’t move forward without sending out strong signals, without reaching out to those who, despite our differences, share the same ambition: to serve France and the French people.”
Experts question Macron’s strategy
Former IMF Chief Economist Olivier Blanchard also criticized the government’s approach, saying:
“Hard to understand what was in Macron/Lecornu’s minds in presenting more or less the same government, with one largely unpopular addition. But equally striking is the degree to which the discussion is about people, and not about issues.”
A deepening constitutional crisis
France has not experienced such political instability since the founding of the Fifth Republic in 1958. The constitution was designed to guarantee strong presidential rule and avoid the fractious coalition politics of earlier eras. Yet, Macron—who once redrew France’s political landscape—now faces a parliament where the centre no longer holds, and the far-right and hard-left dominate.
“Macron now has to choose: dissolve parliament or resign, and quickly!” the National Rally said in a statement.
As France faces its worst political crisis in decades, uncertainty looms over whether Macron can restore stability—or whether the Fifth Republic itself will face a reckoning.
