Yet another PM resigns in France. Can President Emmanuel Macron restore stability?

In what has become an all-too-familiar turn of events, France’s Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu has resigned. The development comes just a month after Lecornu, a loyalist of French President Emmanuel Macron, took office.

Macron, after the news, was filmed taking a walk along the River Seine in Paris, the French president engrossed in a phone call as his security team shadowed him from afar.

While the contents of his phone call remain a mystery, the image instantly symbolised Macron’s isolated position. He is clearly facing a tough set of choices, with all his remaining options fraught with hazard.

But what will Macron, who must step down as president in 2027 after serving the maximum two terms allowed, do next? Can he bring stability back to France?

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Can Lecornu be reappointed as PM?

This is possible because Bruno Le Maire, the loyal ex-finance minister whose defence appointment had triggered the political crisis, has to step down from the government.

Following the announcement by the Élysée that Lecornu had two days to finalise an action plan, the premier stated his intention to hold “final discussions” with “all the political forces” to achieve it.

Outgoing French Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu, who submitted his government’s resignation to the French President this morning, delivers a statement at the Hôtel Matignon in Paris, on October 6, 2025. AFP

But it is far from clear that Lecornu would be able to appoint a government, let alone survive a confidence vote in parliament where his forces are in the minority.

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Even if his mission were to succeed, his reappointment as premier would not be automatic, said a French presidential official.

“The fundamentals of the problem remain the same: with or without Le Maire, they (the other parliamentary blocs) don’t agree on the budget, pension reform, immigration and so forth,” said Paul Taylor, senior visiting fellow at the European Policy Centre.

Who will be the new PM?

France’s reputation will undoubtedly suffer if Macron appoints yet another prime minister — it would be the eighth of his term and the third change this year, underscoring his increasingly unstable rule.

The left wants him to appoint a person who would push through a more expansive budget. But it is far from clear Macron would do this, and even if he did, the new premier might not even enjoy support from throughout the fractious left.

“Another PM could be toppled within weeks, making a new legislative election almost inevitable,” said the Eurasia Group risk analysis firm.

Will there be early elections?

Macron has always resisted calling early elections, after his gamble to call snap polls in the summer of 2024 backfired and left France with a hung parliament.

But the president will “assume his responsibilities” if Lecornu fails over the next two days, a presidential official said, in apparent reference to calling early elections.

Such elections could lead to the far-right National Rally (RN) of Marine Le Pen bolstering its presence in parliament and even giving her protégé Jordan Bardella the chance of becoming premier.

The outcome of such polls is far from clear, though Le Pen has described such elections as “absolutely essential”.

“It is uncertain whether new elections would produce a different result than the one from last July,” said Célia Belin, head of the Paris office of the European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR).

Will Macron resign amid political chaos?

Macron has always rejected resigning before his mandate ends, which would trigger early presidential elections. But pressure is building on the president like never before.

“If new snap elections do not allow for a governing majority, the political crisis could turn into a regime crisis. In this case, President Macron’s ability to stay in power could be questioned,” said Belin.

With inputs from agencies.