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Official portrait, 2022

Prime Minister of France
Incumbent
Assumed office 9 September 2025
President	Emmanuel Macron
Preceded by	François Bayrou
Minister of the Armed Forces
Interim
Assumed office 6 October 2025
Prime Minister	Himself
Preceded by	Bruno Le Maire
In office 20 May 2022 – 5 October 2025
Prime Minister	Élisabeth Borne Gabriel Attal Michel Barnier François Bayrou
Preceded by	Florence Parly
Succeeded by	Bruno Le Maire
Minister of the Overseas
In office 6 July 2020 – 20 May 2022
Prime Minister	Jean Castex
Preceded by	Annick Girardin
Succeeded by	Yaël Braun-Pivet
Minister for Local Authorities
In office 16 October 2018 – 6 July 2020
Prime Minister	Édouard Philippe
Preceded by	Estelle Grelier (2017)
Succeeded by	Jacqueline Gourault
Secretary of State to the Minister of the Ecological and Inclusive Transition
In office 21 June 2017 – 16 October 2018
Prime Minister	Édouard Philippe
Preceded by	Position established
Succeeded by	Emmanuelle Wargon
President of the Departmental Council of Eure
In office 1 July 2021 – 16 December 2022
Preceded by	Pascal Lehongre
Succeeded by	Alexandre Rassaërt
In office 2 April 2015 – 10 July 2017
Preceded by	Jean-Louis Destans
Succeeded by	Pascal Lehongre
Senator for Eure
In office 1 October 2020 – 1 November 2020
Succeeded by	Nicole Duranton
Vice-President of Seine Normandie Agglomération
In office 18 April 2014 – 3 November 2020
President	Gérard Volpatti Frédéric Duché
Succeeded by	François Ouzilleau
Mayor of Vernon
In office 5 April 2014 – 4 December 2015
Preceded by	Philippe Nguyen Thanh
Succeeded by	François Ouzilleau

Personal details
Born	(1986-06-11) 11 June 1986 (age 39) Eaubonne, France
Political party	Renaissance (2017–present)
Other political affiliations	UMP (2002–2015) LR (2015–2017)
Residences	Hôtel Matignon, Paris
Alma mater	Panthéon-Assas University

Sébastien Lecornu (born 11 June 1986) is a French politician who is currently the Prime Minister of France. He was first appointed Prime Minister in September 2025. After a short time, he resigned in October 2025 but was reappointed just a few days later. He is known for his political views that are generally considered right-leaning.

Before becoming Prime Minister, Lecornu held many important roles in the French government. He was the President of the Departmental Council of Eure from 2015 to 2017. He also served as a Secretary of State for the Environment (2017–2018), Minister for Local Authorities (2018–2020), Minister of the Overseas (2020–2022), and Minister of the Armed Forces (2022–2025). Since 2017, he has been a member of the Renaissance political party.

Early Life and Education
Political Career
Awards and Recognition
- National honours
- Foreign honours
See also

Early Life and Education

Sébastien Lecornu was born on June 11, 1986, in Eaubonne, France. His father, Jean-Pierre Lecornu, worked as an aircraft technician. His mother, Martine Rousseau, was a medical secretary. He was very close to his grandfather, who had been a resistance fighter and was interested in politics.

From a young age, Sébastien Lecornu was passionate about the army and politics. He even considered becoming a soldier. He also spent some time exploring a monastic life at the Abbey of Saint-Wandrille. He finished his high school studies at Saint-Adjutor de Vernon, a private Catholic school. He earned a law degree and started a master's degree in public law at Panthéon-Assas University.

In 2002, when he was 16, Lecornu became involved in politics by joining the Union for a Popular Movement (UMP) party. He campaigned during the 2004 regional elections.

In 2005, he became a parliamentary assistant for Franck Gilard, a member of the National Assembly. At that time, he was the youngest parliamentary assistant in the National Assembly. Later, in 2008, he became an advisor to Bruno Le Maire, who was a Secretary of State. Lecornu was only 22, making him the youngest advisor in the government at that time. He is also a member of the National Gendarmerie operational reserve, holding the rank of lieutenant and later colonel as a reserve specialist.

Political Career

Local Government Roles

Sébastien Lecornu began his political career in local government. In 2014, he was elected as the Mayor of Vernon. Because he couldn't hold both positions at once, he stepped down as mayor in December 2015.

After the 2015 local elections, he became the President of the Departmental Council of Eure. In this role, he focused on managing public money carefully and ensuring public assistance programs were used correctly. He also made decisions about local schools.

National Government Roles

Secretary of State for Ecology

Lecornu in 2017

In 2017, President Emmanuel Macron appointed Lecornu as a Secretary of State for the Environment. During this time, he worked on important energy projects, including those related to nuclear power plants and managing nuclear waste.

He left his former political party, The Republicans, and joined La République en marche (now Renaissance).

Minister for Local Authorities

On October 16, 2018, Lecornu became the Minister for Local Authorities. He worked with local governments across France.

In January 2019, he helped lead a "great national debate." This was a large discussion organized to help solve problems in the country.

Minister of Overseas Territories

On July 6, 2020, Lecornu was appointed Minister of the Overseas. In this role, he managed issues in French territories located far from mainland France. For example, he held discussions in Guadeloupe in 2021 to address local concerns. He also announced that France was open to discussing more local control for Guadeloupe.

He was elected as a senator for Eure in September 2020. Due to rules about holding too many positions, he stepped down from his role as deputy mayor and from the municipal council of Vernon in November 2020. He also temporarily held the presidency of the Eure departmental council again, with special permission from President Macron and Prime Minister Jean Castex.

Minister of the Armed Forces

Lecornu with US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin in 2022

On May 20, 2022, Lecornu became the Minister of the Armed Forces.

Early in his time as Minister, Lecornu worked with the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Catherine Colonna. They traveled to Niger to arrange for French troops in the Sahel region to be based there.

France, along with other NATO allies, provided support to Ukraine. Lecornu visited Kyiv in December 2022. He discussed how France was helping Ukraine with military equipment and training.

Modernizing France's Military

In December 2022, Lecornu and Mariusz Błaszczak signed an agreement. This deal was for Poland to buy two observation satellites from France.

In April 2023, he presented a plan for military spending from 2024 to 2030. This plan included 413 billion euros for the military. The annual budget for the armed forces will increase significantly by 2030. This money will be used for things like the French nuclear arsenal, building a new aircraft carrier, and increasing the number of soldiers. The government also planned to raise the age limit for military reservists to 70. The goal is to have 300,000 soldiers, including 100,000 reservists. The budget for intelligence services was also planned to increase.

In March 2024, Lecornu announced that a factory called Les Forges de Tarbes would be able to produce 4,000 artillery shells each month. This was a big increase from its previous production. In July 2024, Lecornu and other European ministers signed an agreement. They planned to develop new ground-launched cruise missiles.

Becoming Prime Minister

Sébastien Lecornu was appointed Prime Minister on September 9, 2025, by President Emmanuel Macron. He took over from François Bayrou, whose government had resigned.

Soon after his appointment, news reports mentioned that Lecornu met with former President Nicolas Sarkozy. Sarkozy offered his support and friendship.

On September 13, 2025, Lecornu announced that his government would not remove or reinstate two public holidays. This had been an unpopular idea from the previous government. Two days later, he announced that "lifetime benefits" for former government members would end on January 1, 2026.

On October 6, 2025, Lecornu presented his new government cabinet. He resigned just hours later due to political challenges. President Macron then asked Lecornu to hold talks to stabilize the government. Lecornu also temporarily took on the role of Minister of the Armed Forces after Bruno Le Maire resigned. On October 10, 2025, President Macron re-appointed Lecornu as Prime Minister.

His Political Ideas

Sébastien Lecornu describes his political views as generally right-leaning. He supports Gaullism, a French political idea, and is also in favor of European cooperation.

He has expressed strong views on how public assistance programs should be managed. He emphasizes careful spending of public money. He also supports traditional hunting practices. As Secretary of State for the Environment, he defended hunting and helped lower the price of the national hunting permit.