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The new French prime minister, Sébastien Lecornu, has promised a “profound break” with past politics as he took over from the unpopular centrist François Bayrou, who was ousted this week over a proposed budget squeeze.
Lecornu, 39, who said “humility” was the key approach, now faces the difficult task of gaining enough support from France’s divided parliament to pass a budget if he is to avoid being swiftly ousted in the same way as Bayrou, and before him, the rightwing Michel Barnier, who only lasted three months.
“We will get there … no path is impossible,” Lecornu said on Wednesday.
Lecornu is the third French prime minister in only one year as the country has gone through a period of instability and political crisis since the centrist president, Emmanuel Macron, called an inconclusive snap election last year.
The parliament remains divided between the three blocs: the left, the far right and the centre, with no clear majority. A budget for next year must be agreed within the coming weeks, even though the political parties are at loggerheads.
Lecornu, who as defence minister for the past three years was known for his work on increasing French military spending, said: “We are going to have to change, be more creative and serious in our way of working with the opposition.” He said there must be deep changes to working methods, but also to the substance of politics.
Lecornu said he would address France “in the coming days” to explain his approach, which he promised would be different from the past. He is expected to take several weeks to form a new government. The new prime minister began meeting party leaders as tens of thousands of protesters held a national day of demonstrations on Wednesday, barricading roads and gathering in town centres as 80,000 police were deployed across France.
Lecornu is seen as representing continuity rather than change. He had a background on the right in Nicolas Sarkozy’s party before joining Macron’s centrists eight years ago. He is seen as one of Macron’s most loyal allies, having been in government since Macron was first elected in 2017.
Lecornu is so close to Macron that he has been called “Macron’s spiritual son”. Opposition parties, which had wanted a radical change of direction from a new prime minister, warned on Wednesday that they remained highly critical and a wrong step could lead to Lecornu being toppled in a no-confidence vote.
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Gaël Sliman of the pollsters Odoxa told France 5 TV that snap polling on Lecornu’s appointment showed he had the lowest ratings of any new prime minister in recent years.
Boris Vallaud, the head of the Socialist parliament group, said: “He was part of a government that was toppled this week. You can appreciate our scepticism. What French people are asking for is a change of politics.”
The leftwing party La France Insoumise announced an immediate no-confidence motion against Lecornu in parliament, but for now without backing from other parties. Lecornu’s challenge is to at least convince a majority of opposition parties to refrain from ousting him in a no-confidence vote.
Jordan Bardella of the far-right National Rally party said Lecornu was “in a very precarious position”. He said unless there was proof of a real change in politics, there would be a no-confidence motion and Lecornu would “fall”. Bardella said: “I fear that Macron has once again made a choice of instability.”
Sébastien Chenu, the vice-president of Le Pen’s party, said it would be “very surprising” if Lecornu, a Macron ally, “broke with Macron’s politics”.
