Overview

• Power formally transferred at noon in Matignon after François Bayrou’s defeat in a confidence vote, with Sébastien Lecornu moving from Defense to become France’s fifth prime minister since 2022.
• In brief remarks, Lecornu promised “ruptures” and opened consultations, meeting Gabriel Attal, Les Républicains and Édouard Philippe first, with the left scheduled later and the RN saying it had not been invited.
• The PS cast itself as pivotal for any non‑censure path on the budget, while the RN and LFI denounced the nomination and warned they would push censure or dissolution absent a clear policy break.
• The decentralized ‘Bloquons tout’ mobilization produced early blockades and fires in several cities, including Caen and Brest, with 65 arrests reported in the Paris area and a deployment of about 80,000 police and gendarmes nationwide.
• The core test is rewriting the 2026 budget after Bayrou’s roughly €44 billion savings plan triggered the crisis, with Assembly debates due to open the week of 7 October.