France’s Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu survived two no-confidence motions, giving Macron a brief political respite amid growing instability.
French Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu survived two no-confidence votes in the National Assembly on Monday, keeping Emmanuel Macron’s government afloat amid mounting political turmoil.
The first motion, tabled by the far-left France Unbowed party, secured 271 votes—short of the 289 required—after the Socialist Party decided not to support the move in exchange for suspending Macron’s controversial pension reform.
Minutes later, the far-right National Rally launched another motion, which only gathered 144 votes, allowing Lecornu to remain in office. The prime minister, who already held the record for the shortest term in modern French history, now stands as a stabilizing figure in a divided political landscape.
Lecornu’s decision to pause the pension reform—one of Macron’s signature but most unpopular policies—was seen as a political concession to preserve institutional stability. The 2023 law gradually raised the retirement age from 62 to 64 by 2030 and had triggered months of nationwide protests and strikes.
🔴💸 ALERTE : La motion de censure contre le gouvernement Lecornu II est rejetée à 271 voix. (LCI)
— Sir 𝕏 (@SirAfuera) October 16, 2025
La seule députée courageuse Les Républicains à avoir voter la censure est @MartinAlex06 affiliée à David Lisnard et Nouvelle Énergie.
Les masques tombent. pic.twitter.com/jd0lylegGG
Addressing lawmakers, Lecornu announced he would propose an amendment in November to suspend the reform until after the 2027 presidential elections. However, analysts warn the move could undermine Macron’s economic legacy and worsen France’s fiscal strain, with the deficit expected to reach 5.4% of GDP in 2025.
Fitch Ratings cautioned that delaying the reform “will increase structural pressures on already weak public finances,” while Moody’s is set to review France’s credit rating on October 24.
With rising debt, political polarization, and a fractured parliament divided into three major ideological blocs, France faces its most unstable period in decades. For now, Macron and his embattled prime minister have bought time—but not peace.
