Sebastien Lecornu

January 19, 2026 9:34 PM

France edges towards budget deal with Socialists welcoming PM’s concessions

France was moving closer to a 2026 budget deal on Monday after the government presented a last-ditch proposal that made concessions to most political parties, senior Socialist lawmaker Boris Vallaud said, ahead of a cabinet meeting on Monday afternoon. President Emmanuel Macron's government lacks a majority in parliament and 2026 budget negotiations in the fragmented legislature have dragged on for months, forcing a rollover budget in the meantime to keep the country afloat. Needing to win sup...

January 15, 2026 6:12 PM

French government survives no-confidence votes, now faces another budget battle

French Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu survived two no-confidence votes in parliament on Wednesday, clearing the way for the government to focus on yet another budget showdown in the coming days. The no-confidence motions, filed by the far-right National Rally (RN) and hard-left France Unbowed (LFI), aimed to protest the European Union's trade agreement with the Mercosur bloc. Despite French opposition, EU member states last week approved the signing of the long-debated deal with Argentina, B...

January 14, 2026 6:04 PM

No-confidence votes test French government as another budget battle looms

The French government faces two no-confidence votes on Wednesday that are not expected to pass, which would clear the way for the government to focus on yet another budget showdown in the coming days. The no-confidence motions, filed by the far-right National Rally (RN) and hard-left France Unbowed (LFI), aim to protest the European Union's trade agreement with the Mercosur bloc. Despite French opposition, EU member states last week approved the signing of the long-debated deal with Argentina,...

October 16, 2025 5:46 PM

French PM survives no-confidence votes after making pension concession

French Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu survived two no-confidence votes in parliament on Thursday, winning crucial backing from the Socialist Party thanks to his pledge to suspend President Emmanuel Macron’s contested pension reform. The two motions presented by the hard-left France Unbowed and the far-right National Rally (RN) secured just 271 and 144 votes respectively - well short of the 289 votes needed to bring down Lecornu's days-old government. Lecornu's offer to mothball the pension...

October 16, 2025 10:58 AM

French PM faces day of reckoning, but likely to survive no-confidence votes

French Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu appears likely to survive two no-confidence votes in parliament on Thursday after offering to suspend President Emmanuel Macron's landmark pension reform to win support from the left. Lecornu, already France's shortest-serving prime minister in modern times before he was re-appointed last week, had faced the prospect of an even shorter second stint in office until he made the pensions reform concession on Tuesday. The Socialists, who hold the key to Leco...

October 12, 2025 3:54 PM

French PM Lecornu races against the clock to form government

French Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu faces a race against time to form a government by Monday’s budget deadline, as divisions emerged within the conservative Les Republicains party over whether to accept ministerial posts in his cabinet. Just two days after being reappointed, Lecornu must present a draft budget bill to cabinet and parliament on Monday, requiring key ministerial positions to be filled immediately amid France’s deepest political crisis in decades. The LR party’s governi...

October 7, 2025 4:15 PM

Election calls heap pressure on Macron to end political crisis

France's President Emmanuel Macron faced deepening pressure on Tuesday to hold a snap parliamentary election or even resign to end political chaos in the euro zone's second biggest economy that has forced the resignation of five prime ministers in less than two years. The 47-year-old president, who was seen this week wandering alone beside the river Seine deep in thought, has repeatedly said he will see out his second term, which ends in 2027. But resignation calls, long confined to the fringe...

October 6, 2025 11:01 PM

Macron tasks his outgoing PM with holding last-ditch talks to end crisis

French President Emmanuel Macron on Monday tasked his outgoing prime minister, who had resigned earlier in the day, to hold last-ditch talks with other political parties to try and chart a path out of the crisis. Sebastien Lecornu had tendered his government's resignation only hours after announcing his cabinet line-up, making it the shortest-lived administration in modern French history and deepening the country's political crisis. It was not immediately clear what Lecornu's task would entail...

October 6, 2025 2:53 PM

France’s one-day old government quits, deepening political crisis

France's new Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu and his government resigned on Monday, hours after Lecornu announced his cabinet line-up, making it the shortest-lived in modern French history, driving stocks and the euro sharply lower. Theswift resignation was unexpected and marked another major deepening of France's political crisis. It came after allies and foes alike threatened to topple the new government. Lecornu was prime minister for only 27 days. His government lasted 14 hours. The far-...

October 5, 2025 9:42 AM

French PM plans new tax on people earning over 250,000 euros a year, Les Echos says

French Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu plans a tax targeting individuals with annual incomes of over 250,000 euros to try to win the Socialist opposition's backing for his government's 2026 state budget, financial daily Les Echos said on Saturday. Les Echos reported that Lecornu plans two measures, each targeting taxpayers declaring more than 250,000 euros ($300,000) in income - or 500,000 euros for a couple - to raise an additional 3 billion euros in fiscal revenue next year. A first measure...