Overview
- Opposition parties threaten a cross-party no-confidence vote, with Socialist leader Olivier Faure saying his MPs will topple Sébastien Lecornu without higher taxes on the rich and warning dissolution could follow.
- Three weeks after his appointment, no new cabinet has been named, leaving ministers from the ousted Bayrou government in caretaker roles.
- The 2026 budget has not been presented, and Lecornu warns the deficit forecast of 5.4% of GDP could rise to 6% if no plan is passed, a delay analysts say is unsettling investors.
- Talks with the Socialists have frayed, and Lecornu has rejected reintroducing a wealth tax and reversing pension reform ahead of union strikes on Thursday and a scheduled “last chance” meeting on Friday.
- A teaching union has filed a criminal complaint alleging he misrepresented a master’s degree; Lecornu calls it a false controversy and has revised his CV to state he studied public law at Panthéon-Assas.