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Marrakech – French Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu unveiled his new government on Sunday evening, just 48 hours after being reappointed to his post by President Emmanuel Macron. The 34-member cabinet includes a mix of familiar faces and newcomers in what Lecornu calls a “government of mission” tasked with passing a budget before the year’s end.
Laurent Nuñez, previously Paris police prefect, has been appointed Interior Minister, replacing Bruno Retailleau. Former SNCF railway chief Jean-Pierre Farandou takes over as Minister of Labor and Solidarity. Catherine Vautrin moves from Health to Defense, while several ministers retain their previous portfolios, including Gérald Darmanin at Justice and Rachida Dati at Culture.
Rachida Dati, of Moroccan origin, maintains her position as Culture Minister despite facing upcoming legal challenges. She is scheduled to be tried in Paris for corruption and influence peddling in September 2026. Dati is also a declared candidate for the Paris mayoral elections in March 2026, which means her government tenure will likely be temporary.
Another minister with Moroccan roots, Naïma Moutchou from the Horizons party, has been appointed Minister of Overseas Territories. She will face the challenge of addressing the future of New Caledonia, more than a year after the insurrectional crisis of May 2024.
The new government faces immediate censure threats from opposition parties. Both the far-right National Rally (RN) and left-wing La France Insoumise (LFI) announced they would file motions of censure. Marine Le Pen stated that RN would file their motion “as early as tomorrow,” and called on Macron to dissolve parliament to “allow French people to express themselves.”
Six ministers from the right-wing Les Républicains (LR) party joined the government despite their party’s official position against participation. LR promptly announced the exclusion of these members, including Agriculture Minister Annie Genevard and Housing Minister Vincent Jeanbrun, in a sign of deepening divisions within the conservative party.
France’s political landscape remains highly unstable
This political chaos is not new for France, which has seen an unprecedented ministerial carousel since 2022. Following Elisabeth Borne’s government, Gabriel Attal led a 34-member cabinet, followed by Michel Barnier’s 41-member team.
François Bayrou’s 35-member government preceded Lecornu’s first attempt, which lasted barely 12 hours with just 18 ministers before his surprise resignation.
Lecornu’s first government was the shortest-lived in the history of the Fifth Republic. Named on October 6, he resigned the same day, just hours after announcing his ministerial team. Emmanuel Macron then decided to rename him to the post on October 10, which Lecornu accepted “out of duty” to give France a budget before year-end.
The Socialist Party (PS) has not joined the immediate calls for censure but set strict conditions for their support. Without confirmation of “the abandonment of the 49.3 procedure, measures to protect and strengthen French purchasing power, and an immediate and complete suspension of the pension reform, we will censure it,” the party warned.
Some opposition figures are now calling for Macron himself to resign. In a statement, the Green and Social group in the National Assembly condemned Lecornu’s reappointment as “symbolizing a power enclosed in denial” and criticized Macron for “persisting in imposing his will alone.”
The group warned that “if he should lock himself instead in this senseless monopolization of power serving a handful, we will censure this illegitimate and unfit government” and cautioned that “Emmanuel Macron’s obstinacy exposes the country to the risk of a forward flight whose consequences for the Republic are potentially catastrophic.”
Mathilde Panot of LFI was more direct, predicting that “censure is coming. And Macron’s departure will follow!” when reacting to the new cabinet announcement.
The cabinet includes eight notable members from civil society, including former WWF France president Monique Barbut as Minister for Ecological Transition, and former Système U CEO Serge Papin as Minister for SMEs, Commerce, Crafts, Tourism and Purchasing Power. Edouard Geffray, former director of school education, replaces Elisabeth Borne at the Education Ministry.
Despite efforts to create a more technical and less partisan government, the political makeup remains dominated by Macron’s allies, with 11 members from Renaissance, six from Les Républicains, four from MoDem, three from Horizons, one from UDI, and one from the LIOT parliamentary group.
Time restraints add to the political tension
The government faces an extremely tight constitutional deadline for budget approval. The Constitution provides Parliament with 70 days to examine the budget before December 31.
While Monday, October 13, had been presented for several days by the executive as the deadline for transmitting the budget to Parliament on time, it will likely only be submitted on Tuesday, after the first Council of Ministers meeting of the new government scheduled for Tuesday, October 14, at 10 a.m.
The budget to be presented will be the one prepared by François Bayrou and Sébastien Lecornu, then submitted for review on October 2 to the High Council of Public Finances. Lecornu previously described it as “not perfect” but “also imagined so that the debate can take place” in Parliament.
Until the last minute, negotiations were conducted with political forces to try to rally a parliamentary majority and avoid the prospect of a censure motion or new snap legislative elections.
After initially focusing on the Zucman tax on the wealth of the ultra-rich, demanded by the left but refused by the Prime Minister, the debate has shifted to another contentious issue: pensions. The Socialists are demanding the immediate suspension of the 2023 reform passed by Elisabeth Borne through the use of Article 49.3 as a condition for not censuring this government.
To give himself room for compromise, Sébastien Lecornu has agreed to lower his public finance recovery ambitions, with a public deficit target for 2026 now “below 5%” of gross domestic product (GDP) rather than 4.7%.
Lecornu has been clear about his willingness to resign again if necessary. In a message posted on social network X after the announcement of his second government, he described it as a “government of mission” to “give France a budget before the end of the year.”
He has warned that if “the conditions were no longer met again, I would leave. I will not do just anything,” he told La Tribune newspaper on Sunday.
With votes on censure motions expected as early as Wednesday or Thursday following Lecornu’s policy speech on Tuesday afternoon, LFI parliamentary group leader Mathilde Panot perfectly summed up the fragile situation: “A piece of advice for newcomers: don’t unpack your boxes too quickly. Censure is coming,” she wrote on X Sunday evening.
The brief passation ceremonies between outgoing and incoming ministers reflect this precarious situation. According to French media reports, the Prime Minister’s office has requested that ministerial handovers be marked by “sobriety,” without press or guests. This stands in stark contrast to traditional elaborate ceremonies, underscoring the government’s uncertain future.
