Once again, the French are left in political agonypublished at 21:10 BST 8 October

21:10 BST 8 October

Hugh Schofield
Paris Correspondent

Image source, EPA

Sébastien Lecornu is known as a man of few words. It means that interlocutors can sometimes be left guessing what he is driving at.

The French public will certainly have felt that impression tonight.

The one positive that can be stated is there will be no immediate announcement of an early election.

That was thought to be on the cards if Lecornu decided there was not sufficient common ground for forming a new government.

But, apparently, Lecornu thinks there is enough common ground.

What that ground is; who will make what compromise; who might be the prime minister; and who might be in the new government – that he was not in a position to say. After all, as he said more than once, he has resigned.

What would he know? He was just doing a last job for the president, and it was up to Macron to make all the announcements.

So, the French are left in agony once again.

You want clarity? Here’s some mud.

Paul Kirby
Europe digital editor

Image source, LUDOVIC MARIN/AFP

The French president won't have expected any different, but his political opponents from the hard right and radical left have had enough and want new elections.

That was their message even before Sébastien Lecornu went on live TV, but they've since doubled down.

Eric Ciotti, whose right-wing party is allied with Marine Le Pen's National Rally, says Lecornu is discredited and "organised chaos will never be a path for France".

On the far left, Mathilde Panot and Jean-Luc Mélenchon of France Unbowed say France has no time to waste and Macron should "resign and leave".

But on the centre left there's been a more thoughtful response.

Aurélien Rousseau, from the Place Publique party, has spoken of Lecornu's recognition of the need for a change of course in government as "dignified and clear". He said on X: "Compromise is a team sport".

More bluntly, the Socialists and Greens say it's now time to name a left-wing prime minister.

If you're just joining us, or are in need of a quick recap, here's what we've learnt from French Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu's television interview.

• French President Emmanuel Macron could nominate a new prime minister in the next 48 hours, the outgoing PM Sébastien Lecornu says

• Asked whether he will be PM again come next week, Lecornu says he won't be going back to the role: "Tonight, I consider this mission is over"
• Lecronu says what's missing in France is a "willingness to create compromise in parliament"
• However, he adds that he feels there's still a way for French MPs to agree a budget
• Lecornu warns the consequences of not having a budget by the end of the year would be "dramatic"

• He added that he's drafted a budget, which he says will be presented on Monday

We're about to close this page but you can continue reading with our latest stories:

• Time may be running out for master of clocks Macron: What next for France?
• Yet another French PM resigns, spelling yet more trouble for Macron

Lecornu believes his work is done, but France's political crisis seems far from solvedpublished at 19:56 BST 8 October

19:56 BST 8 October

Paul Kirby
Europe digital editor

Image source, Reuters

Sébastien Lecornu has made plenty of positive noises - his mission is complete, he has left Macron with enough to go on to name a prime minister by the end of this week, and there are enough MPs in parliament who don't want to dissolve parliament and hold new elections.

"I told the president the prospects of dissolution [of parliament] are further away," he said this evening.

But even if Lecornu thinks his work is done, France's political crisis doesn't seem any closer to being solved.

He's admitted the so-called common platform of centrists and Republicans that have run the government since last year doesn't really seem to be there any more.

Other than sorting out the pressing matter of France's 2026 budget, Lecornu realises there's one big issue that needs to be revisited - Macron's highly contested pension reforms from two years ago.

We don't know if Macron is prepared to do that, but Lecornu clearly believes "we have to find a way for the debate to take place".

Laura Gozzi
Reporting from Paris

The interview with outgoing French PM Sébastien Lecornu has concluded, but just before it did Sébastien Lecornu was asked a final couple of questions.

Presenter: "If we have a prime minister in 48 hours, could it be you? And could we also have a government?"

Lecornu replies by saying he resigned because the conditions for him to stay weren't there. He says he won't go back to somewhere with such conditions - adding: "Tonight my mission is over".

Presenter: "Was the mission successful?"

Lecornu: "Not completely... but I tried".

Stay tuned for some post match analysis and a round-up of the key takeaways from the interview.

Laura Gozzi
Reporting from Paris

Lecornu is now asked about former prime minister Édouard Philippe, who has called on Emmanuel Macron to stand down and call early elections.

"It is not the time to change the president of the republic," he goes on to say - talking about the need for a stable figure internationally.

He adds that the public shouldn't underestimate the international pressure Macron is under.

Pushed on when the French president will speak to the nation, Lecornu says he is an outgoing prime minister not Macron's chief of staff. Macron will decide when the time is right, he adds.

• For context: Macron is under pressure from leaders on the left and right to resign - here's what the various party leaders have said.

Laura Gozzi
Reporting from Paris

Image source, EVN

On a possible budget in France, Lecornu says the consequences of not having a budget by the end of the year would be "dramatic".

He adds that he's drafted one, which he says will be presented on Monday.

It will be open for debate, especially on the social consequences it could have, he says - adding: "But the debate needs to begin... parties cannot say they'll vote it down without examining it."

"The problem right now is that this political crisis needs to be solved," he continues. "A government needs to be formed, and a budget debated and adopted by the council of ministers."

• As a reminder: France's budget deficit this year is projected to hit 5.4% of GDP. As PM, Lecornu did not make it as far as presenting a budget plan, having only lasted 26 days.

Laura Gozzi
Reporting from Paris

We're continuing to bring you updates from an interview with outgoing Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu on French TV.

Asked if the country is heading towards a suspension of pension reform, he says this is "one of the most complex" issues affecting France.

"We have a lot of problems to fix on pensions. Some ask for suspension, some ask for it to be scrapped, others are against it but recognise the cost... so different opinions," he says.

Referencing the fact the policy was pushed through without a vote, he says the "democratic debate" will happen at the next presidential election - scheduled for 2027 - and that we'll need to find a way to make the debate happen.

"Even if my successors don't hold a debate on this topic, the topic will certainly come up during the next presidential campaign," he insists.

Laura Gozzi
Reporting from Paris

There's a bit of back and forth now between Lecornu and the presenter on French TV as they talk about internal politics.

Lecronu says what's missing in France is a "willingness to create compromise in parliament".

He says he refused to push through a budget because he wanted all parties to debate it and take responsibility for their positions.

• As a reminder: The biggest challenge Lecornu and his two predecessors faced had been on how to tackle the country's crippling national debt, as well as getting over the ideological divisions between the centre-ground parties. Earlier this year, public debt stood at €3,345bn (£2,898bn), or almost 114% of economic output (GDP).

One thing appears certain: Lecornu is not staying PMpublished at 19:25 BST 8 October

19:25 BST 8 October

Paul Kirby
Europe digital editor

After 48 hours of negotiations, we now know for sure that Sébastien Lecornu is not going to withdraw his resignation.

But who will be the next PM, we don't know.

All we know is that the next PM is in the hands of President Emmanuel Macron and Lecornu believes the head of state may nominate someone in the next two days.

As for Lecornu, he feels his job his done. After this interview, we may not be hearing much more from him.

Laura Gozzi
Reporting from Paris

Image source, EVN

Going through some of the detail of what's happened since Sunday - the day before he resigned - the outgoing PM says he's learnt in the past three weeks that political leaders in France can show willingness to compromise, but are then blocked by "militant sections" of the parties.

"I am convinced that whoever is chosen to be prime minister will have to put together a team that is totally uninterested in the 2027 presidential contest," he tells French TV.

Laura Gozzi
Reporting from Paris

The presenter pushes back, asking Lecornu to confirm whether he or someone else will be France's next PM.

He says the French parliament is "fragmented" - but that there is still the possibility of compromise.

He goes on to add that there is an "absolute majority in parliament and that's the majority that refuses fresh elections".

Lecornu adds that he feels there is still a way for French MPs to agree a budget. He accepts this is hard, but says that he thinks President Emmanuel Macron can nominate a new PM in the next 48 hours to work to make this happen.

Laura Gozzi
Reporting from Paris

Responding, Lecornu says he is the "outgoing prime minister".

Pushed on whether he will be PM once again come next week, he says he resigned on Monday and accepted to hold further talks for 48 hours at the request of the president.

"Tonight, I consider this mission is over," he adds.

Laura Gozzi
Reporting from Paris

As the interview starts, Sebastian Lecornu nods when the presenter says French people are having trouble understanding what has happened in the past three days.

"Who is sitting in front of me?" she asks, "the prime minister, future prime minster, or a mediator?"

Sébastien Lecornu is about to speak to France TV.

As we've been reporting, the outgoing French PM is due to give an update on whether a solution has been reached following last-ditch efforts to form a new government.

Have parties reached a compromise on forming a government and passing a budget? Or could an early election be needed? Let's find out.

Stay with us as we bring you regular updates.

Image source, France TV

After he called snap elections in mid-2024, France's Emmanuel Macron was left with a hung parliament and a succession of minority governments.

The below graphic shows the resultant breakdown of seats in the French National Assembly:

Why has France become so hard to govern?published at 18:51 BST 8 October

18:51 BST 8 October

Paul Kirby
Europe digital editor

Image source, EPA

It all goes back to Macron's decision to call snap elections for parliament in summer 2024. That result left French politics split into three big blocs - left, centre and hard right.

Macron's centrist alliance has had to deal with a hung parliament ever since, and a refusal of the two other blocs to take part in his government. Only the conservative Republicans have so far been part of the government and Macron needs their support now too.

The big question now is whether Lecornu has been able to persuade the Socialists, who were part of that left bloc during the elections, to prop up a government in some way.

Their leader Olivier Faure appeared to rule out any involvement in the next government, but have they and any other party on the left been convinced to prevent it from falling in the National Assembly, and if so for what price?

The Socialists want Macron's hard-won pension reforms put on hold, and that would be a very high price for the president.

Paul Kirby and Laura Gozzi
Europe digital editor and reporter

Image source, AFP via Getty Images

Leaders on France's hard right and radical left have been calling for President Macron's resignation for months.

Marine Le Pen and her young lieutenant in the hard-right National Rally party, Jordan Bardella, are ready for elections and have refused Lecornu's invitation to talk.

Jean-Luc Mélenchon of the radical left France Unbowed (LFI) - who is backed by the Greens - has been agitating for Macron's impeachment, which seems unlikely.

Olivier Faure's centre-left Socialists were allied to the radical left during the last elections but have been talking to Lecornu on condition that he forms a left-wing government.

From Macron's own centrist Renaissance party is Gabriel Attal, who says he no longer understands the president's decisions.

And centre-right Bruno Retailleau's Republicans have been part of the so-called socle commun (common platform) with the centrists.

Time may be running out for Macron, master of the clockspublished at 18:33 BST 8 October

18:33 BST 8 October

Paul Kirby
Europe digital editor

Image source, Reuters

After his third prime minister in the past year announced his resignation on Monday, Macron went for a long walk along the River Seine, his mobile phone to his ear.

A stunt for the cameras?

Perhaps, but it was symbolic of the solitary nature of his position, as he confronts some of the hardest choices of his presidency and some of his former allies appear to be deserting him.

Long-time ally Édouard Philippe, who served as Macron's first prime minister from 2017 to 2020, has urged him to appoint a technocrat prime minister and call presidential elections in an "orderly manner".

But the president will have known for some time of the political challenges ahead and he is not one to give up without a fight - or another bid to stabilise an increasingly ungovernable France.

There is a sense that time may be running out for the master of the clocks.

Image source, EPA

This will be the second time we hear from Sébastien Lecornu today.

The outgoing French PM, speaking after a first day of consultations with the political parties in parliament, said he had detected a cross-party willingness to agree a budget by the end of the year.

"And this willingness creates movement and convergence, obviously, which makes the prospect of dissolution [of parliament] more remote," he told the French people in a televised statement.

French newspaper Le Monde said Lecornu's remarks signalled that he would be ready to significantly ease off on the public deficit reduction efforts the government had planned for next year.

Reacting to his statement, French bonds then outperformed their euro zone peers, Reuters reports.

Also reading the runes, French commentators and officials have said Lecornu's planned TV appearance this evening suggests it is unlikely French President Emmanuel Macron himself will give an address.