Sébastien Lecornu described himself as the "weakest prime minister of the Fifth Republic." He will also go down in history as the shortest-lived. The former defense minister submitted his resignation to President Emmanuel Macron on Monday, October 6, after just 27 days as prime minister, and less than 24 hours after announcing the composition of his cabinet.
Lecornu faced a looming vote of no confidence by left-wing and far-right opposition parties, who were unconvinced by the makeup of his government, which closely resembled the outgoing cabinet of François Bayrou, and by his unwillingness to compromise on the proposed budget. Yet the harshest criticism came from the so-called "common base," the alliance of the right and center that was supposed to support him: Gabriel Attal, former PM and leader of Macron's Renaissance party, condemned "a disgraceful spectacle." Bruno Retailleau, head of the right-wing Les Républicains (LR) – even though he had been reappointed as interior minister by Lecornu – criticized the cabinet lineup, saying it "does not reflect the promised break."
With a tenure of less than a month as prime minister, Lecornu broke the record set by LR's Michel Barnier, who remained in office for just under three months at the end of 2024. Lecornu stands far behind Georges Pompidou, who served as prime minister for a record six years.
Sébastien Lecornu is the shortest-lived prime minister of the Fifth Republic
This graph shows the time in office of each prime minister in France's Fifth Republic (established in 1958), and their political orientation.
Lecornu will go down in history as the political leader whose government had the shortest lifespan in at least a century. The list of ministers in his government was read out at the entrance of the Elysée Palace on Sunday, October 5, at 7:45 pm. On Monday at 9:41 am, the resignation of the prime minister, and therefore his government, was made official by the French presidency. The Lecornu government lasted 836 minutes.
This rapid fiasco was reminiscent of two other, much older, episodes. The first was that of Alexandre Ribot. On June 9, 1914, this liberal and fairly moderate magistrate, a member of France's Council of State, formed his new cabinet, the third he would lead under the Third Republic. Three days later, it was brought down by the left on the very day it was presented to the Assemblée Nationale. He had too many enemies. The incident was quickly forgotten, however, amid the chaos of World War I, which began two months later. That failure did not prevent Ribot from quickly becoming finance minister, and then regaining the post of prime minister in March 1917.
The second precedent for a short-lived government was that of Frédéric François-Marsal. On June 8, 1924, this businessman and right-wing republican was appointed prime minister. The next day, he formed his government, assigning himself to head the Finance Ministry. Just one more day later, he was brought down by the Chamber of Deputies, as the lower house of the French parliament was called then.
What happened? The appointment of François-Marsal seemed rather unnatural. In May, the so-called "Cartel des Gauches" coalition of left-wing parties won the 1924 legislative elections. However, during the campaign, President Alexandre Millerand, contrary to custom, openly supported the right, then led by Raymond Poincaré. Millerand even made threatening remarks. If Poincaré failed, "the head of state could only bring to power a cabinet determined to continue the political course pursued until then," he warned. He added: "If the country were to show hostility to the continuation of this political course, the president would immediately take the measures he deemed appropriate."
After its victory in the legislative elections, the triumphant left refused to stop there. It wanted to punish Millerand for abandoning his duty of neutrality and force him to resign. The president also opted for a showdown. He asked his friend François-Marsal to form a minority government and to send MPs a very firm message. "If it were now understood that the arbitrary will of a majority could oblige the president to step down for political reasons, the president would be nothing more than a plaything in the hands of the parties," declared the new prime minister on June 10.
The result of the duel between Millerand and the Chamber was unequivocal. By 327 votes to 217, the MPs backed the motion put forward by Edouard Herriot, one of the leaders of the Cartel des Gauches, and rejected "the unconstitutional debate" they had been invited to join. That was the end of François-Marsal's stillborn government. On June 11, President Millerand, the left's real target, also submitted his resignation.
Translation of an original article published in French on lemonde.fr; the publisher may only be liable for the French version.