PARIS, Oct 6, 2025 (BSS/AFP) - Outgoing French premier Sebastien Lecornu is 
a loyal ally of President Emmanuel Macron whose reputation as a canny 
negotiator did not help him survive even a month in office.

His resignation after just 27 days left Lecornu with the unwanted record of 
the shortest time in office of any prime minister since France's Fifth 
Republic was set up in 1958.

Still just 39, Lecornu had been one of the few faces of continuity in the 
French cabinet at a time of multiple changes of government, serving for more 
than three years as defence minister before Macron named him premier on 
September 9.

From day one, he faced an uphill struggle to survive. Both his predecessors 
were ousted by a parliament where pro-Macron forces are in the minority after 
elections in 2024 left the chamber deadlocked.

During just over three weeks in office, the French public barely heard him 
speak while he granted few interviews. He broke records with the length of 
time it took him to name his cabinet, with the line-up only announced Sunday 
evening.

But the hours of closed-door talks and discretion came to nought on Monday 
when Lecornu threw in the towel after his cabinet nominations infuriated the 
right.

"The conditions were not fulfilled for me to carry out my function as prime 
minister," Lecornu said.

In a swipe at the right, he denounced "partisan appetites" and added: "One 
must always put country before party".

His low profile and penchant for working behind the scenes caused irritation 
among some, although there was acknowledgement that he held the poorest of 
hands with a minority government facing hostility from the left and right.

"He is the Paganini of negotiation," said a high-ranking figure in the pro-
Macron forces referring, to the 19th-century Italian virtuoso.

"But his violin has no more strings."

- Not 'presidentiable' -

The ultimate Macron loyalist, Lecornu had held his job as defence minister 
throughout almost all Russia's invasion of Ukraine, successfully expanding 
the defence budget, while carefully remaining in the shadows with infrequent 
media appearances.

One of his key assets for Macron was that he is not what is known in France 
as "presidentiable", namely someone who harbours ambitions of winning the 
Elysee Palace for themselves.

Lecornu is "a loyal soldier who doesn't have too much charisma or 
presidential potential", one ministerial adviser told AFP on condition of 
anonymity.

A career politician, Lecornu started out as a parliamentary assistant aged 
just 19. He had held ministerial posts ever since Macron came to power in 
2017 and was promoted to defence minister in May 2022.

Interested in politics from an early age, Lecornu's career set records for 
hitting milestones at an early age, initially with the conservative UMP party 
of former president Nicolas Sarkozy.

He became France's youngest-ever ministerial adviser in 2008, joining Bruno 
Le Maire -- later Macron's long-serving finance minister -- on the Europe 
brief.

Ironically, the appointment of his former mentor Le Maire as defence minister 
sparked the wave of anger from the right that precipitated his downfall, with 
"BLM" seen as the incarnation of Macron's budgetary policies.

A graduate in public law rather than the elite administration or business 
institutions that traditionally shape top French leaders, Lecornu has made 
sure to keep up his local roots.

In 2015, he was the youngest-ever president of a French department, Eure in 
Normandy, after serving as mayor of his hometown Vernon.

He reached ministerial rank at 31, covering portfolios including the 
environment and overseas territories before landing at defence.

On taking office as premier, he promised "breaks" with the past and to be 
"more creative", vows he appeared unable to keep.

But even his opponents applauded the manner in which he had given way, with 
Socialist leader Olivier Faure saying he had resigned with "dignity and 
honour".