Cornered, Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu tendered his resignation to President Emmanuel Macron on Monday, October 6, shortly before 10 am. Nearly 15 hours after announcing the makeup of his government, the former defense minister, and one of the president's most loyal supporters, threw in the towel. "The conditions were not fulfilled" to remain prime minister, declared Lecornu one hour after resigning, speaking from the steps of the Elysée. He explained that he had "tried to build a way forward with social partners, business leaders, and unions representing employees, especially on issues that have been blocked for several weeks now," such as unemployment insurance, pensions and social security, in order "to revive joint management" and "to create a roadmap" based on a functioning governing coalition.

Saying that political parties "sometimes pretended not to see the change, the profound break that not using Article 49.3 of the Constitution represented," the prime minister concluded, in a barely veiled rebuke to the conservative Les Républicains: "You must always put your country before your party."

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